UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 
Donated  in  memory  of 

John  W.    Syry-d^T- 

by 

His  Son  and  Daughter 


DOME;  OF  THE  CAPITOI,  AT  WASHINGTON. 


PRESIDENTS 

BY 

PRESCOTT   HOLMES 


With  Portraits  and  Numerous  Illustrations 

v 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY   ALTEMUS 
1898 


IN   UNIFORM   STYLE 


Copiously  Illustrated 

THE  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS 
ALICE'S  ADVENTURES  IN  WONDERLAND 
THROUGH  THE  LOOKING-GLASS  &  WHAT  ALICE  FOUND  THERE 
ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

THE  CHILD'S  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE 
THE  CHILD'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST 

XLIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON 

THE   FABLES   OF   jESOP 

/CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AND  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

MOTHER  GOOSE'S  RHYMES,  JINGLES  AND  FAIRY  TALES 
^EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE  IN  THE  FROZEN  SEAS 

THE  STORY  OF  DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION  IN  AFRICA 
><GULLIVER'S  TRAVELS 

ARABIAN  NIGHTS'  ENTERTAINMENTS 

WOOD'S  NATURAL  HISTORY 
KA  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  by  CHARLES  DICKENS 

BLACK   BEAUTY,  by  ANNA   SEWELL 

ANDERSEN'S  FAIRY  TALES 

GRIMM'S  FAIRY  TALES 

GRANDFATHER'S  CHAIR,  by  NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE 

FLOWER    FABLES,  by  LOUISA    M.  ALCOTT 


Price  50  Cents  Each 
HENRY  ALTEMUS,  PHILADELPHIA 


Copyright  1896  and  1898  by  Henry  Altemus. 


PREFACE. 


WE  have  here  endeavored  to  acquaint  young  peo- 
ple with  the  story   of  the  lives  and  attain- 
ments of  the  men  who  achieved  the  highest 
civic  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  people;  and  to  explain, 
in  a  necessarily  brief  narrative,  the  history  of  our 
political  parties,  the  issues  involved  in  their  several 
contests,  and  their  differing  administrations. 

The  youth  of  the  present  is  the  President  of  the 
future;  and  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
rights  and  duties  of  citizenship  is  an  imperative 
feature  of  his  education.  He  will  perceive  that 
honest  differences  of  opinion  have  ever  prevailed, 
and  that  most  of  these  have  been  settled  by  judicious 
compromises  under  constitutional  limitations.  The 
slavery  question  submitted  itself  to  the  arbitration  of 
the  sword,  and  was  worsted  ;  and  the  sin  and  stain 
of  slavery  was  forever  removed  from  our  country. 

We  have  attempted  to  describe  the  things  which 
have  been  accomplished  in  order  that  the  young  pa- 
triot may  have  the  warning  and  the  promise  in  the 
things  yet  to  be  done.  At  the  cost  of  much  blood 
and  treasure  is  crystalized  the  Nation's  motto, 
E  Pluribus  Unum.  Let  us  hope  and  act  so  that  it 
will  be  always  u  now,  and  forever." 

(5) 


\ 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE   READ  TO   THE  ARMY. 
(6) 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON 9 

JOHN  ADAMS 35 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON 46 

JAMES  MADISON 67 

JAMES  MONROE    .   . 79 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS 97 

ANDREW  JACKSON 103 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN 115 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON 123 

JOHN  TYLER 125 

JAMES  K.  POLK 135 

ZACHARY  TAYLOR 144 

MlLLARD   FlLLMORE 155 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE 157 

JAMES  BUCHANAN 165 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 192 

ANDREW  JOHNSON 207 

ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 215 

RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES 233 

JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 241 

CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR 246 

GROVER  CLEVELAND 254 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON 265 

WILLIAM  MCKINLEY  . 269 

(7) 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON— 1789-1797. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  the  first  President,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  February  22,  1732.  His  ancestors 
emigrated  to  Virginia  in  the  time  of  Cromwell  (1657). 
His  father  died  when  he  was  ten  years  old,  leaving 

9 


10  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

a  comfortable  property  to  his  mother  and  five  chil- 
dren. She  was  a  wise  and  prudent  woman,  and 
trained  her  family  to  be  industrious  and  economical. 
His  education  was  conducted  partly  by  his  mother 
and  partly  at  one  of  the  ordinary  schools  of  the 
province.  It  was  the  usual  middle-class  education, 
but  it  included  enough  of  mathematics  to  enable 
Washington  to  act  as  a  land-surveyor.  His  boyhood 
showed  many  evidences  of  that  methodical  precision 
which  was  always  one  of  his  characteristics.  He 
wrote  a  neat,  stiff  hand;  he  compiled  "Rules  of 
Behavior  in  Company  and  Conversation;"  he  sur- 
veyed the  fields  and  plantations  about  the  school 
where  he  was  staying,  and  entered  his  measurements 
and  calculations  in  a  field-book  with  great  exactness. 
In  athletic  exercises  he  was  always  foremost,  and  it 
was  a  favorite  diversion  of  his  to  form  his  school- 
mates into  companies,  and  engage  them  in  sham 
fights.  His  ambition  was  to  enter  the  navy;  but  his 
mother  objected,  and  he  began  his  work  of  land- 
surveying.  At  sixteen  he  was  employed  to  examine 
the  valleys  of  the  Alleghany  mountains — a  task 
which  was  continued  during  the  next  three  years, 
and  performed  with  skill  and  completeness.  It  was 
no  light  or  easy  task,  for  the  country  was  a  wilder- 
ness, and  the  severities  of  the  weather  had  no  miti- 
gation in  those  wild  passes  and  unsheltered  glens. 
It  was  only  for  a  few  weeks  at  a  time  that  he  could 
endure  this  life  of  hardship  and  deprivation;  but 
after  an  interval  of  rest  and  comfort,  he  would  again 
seek  the  desert,  carrying  his  instruments  of  science 
into  the  region  of  savage  mountains,  and  the  neigh- 
borhood of  savage  men. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  n 

When  Washington  was  about  nineteen,  Virginia 
was  divided  into  military  districts,  as  a  measure  of 
protection  against  the  advance  of  the  French.  Over 
each  division  an  adjutant-general,  with  the  rank  of 
major,  was  appointed.  Washington  was  commis- 
sioned to  one  of  these  districts,  and  set  to  work  to 
study  military  tactics.  He  was  so  good  a  soldier 
two  years  later  that,  when  the  number  of  military 
divisions  in  Virginia  was  reduced  to  four,  he  was 
still  left  in  command  of  one,  and  in  this  capacity 
had  to  train  and  instruct  officers,  to  inspect  men, 
arms,  and  accoutrements,  and  to  establish  a  uniform 
system  of  manoeuvres.  When  he  was  twenty-one,  he 
was  doing  the  work  of  an  experienced  major-general ; 
and  was  selected  by  Governor  Dinwiddie  for  a  service 
which  demanded  great  skill  as  well  as  daring.  He 
was  required  to  make  his  way  across  a  mountainous 
desert,  inhabited  by  Indians  whose  friendship  could 
hardly  be  depended  on;  to  penetrate  to  the  frontier 
stations  of  the  French;  and  to  bring  back  informa- 
tion concerning  their  position  and  military  strength, 
together  with  an  answer  from  the  French  com- 
mander as  to  why  he  had  invaded  the  British  domin- 
ions during  a  time  of  peace.  The  expedition  was 
all  the  more  onerous  as  winter  was  coining  on.  It 
was  October  31,  1753,  ere  Washington  started;  it 
was  the  middle  of  November  when,  with  an  inter- 
preter, four  attendants,  and  Christopher  Gist  as  a 
guide,  he  followed  an  Indian  trail  into  the  dim 
mysteries  of  the  unknown  forest.  The  path  took 
the  little  company  into  the  wilderness,  and  carried 
them  over  deep  ravines  and  swollen  streams,  made 
worse  by  the  sleet  and  snow  which  then  began  to 


12  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

fall;  and  at  length  brought  them,  after  a  hurried 
ride  of  nine  days,  to  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  where 
the  quick  glance  of  Washington  saw  the  fine  capa- 
bilities for  planting  a  great  commercial  city,  now 
Cincinnati. 

The  party  swam  their  horses  across  the  Alleghany, 
and  slept  that  night  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  Next 
moraine  the  chief  of  the  Delawares  led  them  through 

o  <-> 

an  open  country  to  the  valley  ot  Logstown,  where 
they  were  cordially  received  by  the  Indians,  with 
whom  they  planned  a  series  of  operations  against 
the  French,  in  the  event  of  the  latter  still  refusing 
to  quit  the  country.  Accompanied  by  several  of  the 
natives,  Washington  and  his  friends  again  set  for- 
ward, and  reached  the  French  post,  where  the  officers 
avowed  their  resolve  to  take  possession  of  the  Ohio. 
They  boasted  of  their  forts  at  Le  Bceuf,  Erie,  Niag- 
ara, Toronto,  and  Frontenac,  and  said  that  the 
English  would  be  unable,  though  two  to  one,  to 
prevent  any  enterprise  of  the  French.  From  this 
point,  the  Virginian  envoys  made  their  way,  across 
creeks  so  swollen  by  the  rains  as  to  be  passable  only 
over  felled  trees,  towards  the  fort  of  Le  Boeuf,  situ- 
ated at  Waterford.  Rain  and  snow  fell;  they  were 
often  engulfed  in  miry  swamps,  and  were  forced  to 
kill  bucks  and  bears  for  their  sustenance.  On 
gaining  Fort  Le  Bceuf,  they  found  it  surrounded  by 
the  rough,  log-built  barracks  of  the  soldiers.  In 
front  lay  50  birch-bark  canoes,  and  170  boats  of  pine, 
ready  for  the  descent  of  the  river;  while,  close  by, 
materials  were  collected  for  building  more.  The 
commander  of  the  fort  was  a  man  of  great  courage, 
of  large  experience,  and  of  so  much  integrity  that 


WASHINGTON  PLANTING  THK  BRITISH  FLAG  AT  FORT  DUQUESNB. 

13 


I4  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

he  was  at  once  feared  and  beloved  by  the  savages. 
He  refused  to  discuss  with  young  Washington 
the  abstract  question  of  right.  He  had  been  placed 
there  by  his  chief,  and  would  execute  the  orders  he 
had  received.  To  the  letter  from  Didwiddie  which 
Washington  delivered,  requiring  the  evacuation  of 
the  place,  he  replied  by  a  direct  refusal,  and  an  inti- 
mation of  his  purpose  to  seize  every  Englishman 
within  the  Ohio  Valley.  Having  executed  his  com- 
mission, Washington,  with  his  companions,  turned 
homeward.  The  return  was  worse  than  the  journey 
out;  for  it  was  now  the  depth  of  winter,  and  having 
to  cross  many  creeks  and  small  rivers,  they  suffered 
severely  from  the  rigor  of  the  season.  Once,  a  canoe 
which  they  now  had  with  them  was  driven  against 
the  rocks;  at  other  times  they  were  obliged  to  carry 
it  across  the  half- frozen  stream;  often  they  waded 
through  water  which  froze  upon  their  clothes.  Snow 
fell  heavily,  and  a  bitter  frost  set  in.  Washington 
and  Gist  separated  from  the  others,  and  struck  across 
the  open  country  towards  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  steer- 
ing their  way  by  the  compass.  But  the  deadly  cold 
was  not  the  only  peril  they  had  to  face.  Hostile 
Indians  lay  in  wait  for  the  travelers,  and  one  fired 
at  Washington  as  he  passed.  The  Alleghany  was 
crossed  on  a  raft  laboriously  made  out  of  trees  which 
they  had  first  to  fell.  The  passage  of  the  river  was 
made  difficult  and  dangerous  by  floating  ice,  and 
Washington,  in  maneuvering  the  raft,  was  thrown 
into  the  benumbing  current.  He  and  his  compan- 
ion got  to  a  small  island,  and  passed  the  night  there; 
in  the  morning  the  river  was  entirely  frozen  over, 
and  they  crossed  on  foot.  On  January  16,  1754, 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  T$ 

Washington  again  found  himself  at  the  Virginia 
capital.  The  journal  of  his  expedition,  which  was 
published  shortly  afterwards,  gave  a  very  high  idea 
of  his  sagacity,  self-reliance,  and  powers  of  observa- 
tion; and  his  minute  description  of  the  fort  which 
he  had  visited — of  its  form,  size,  construction,  and 
number  of  cannon — advanced  his  reputation  as  a 
military  critic.  That  winter's  journey  had  brought 
a  new  actor  on  the  stage  of  the  world. 

Dinwiddie  attempted  to  force  the  French  from  the 
ground  claimed  by  the  English.  Two  companies 
were  raised,  and  put  under  Washington's  command 
with  orders  "to  drive  away,  kill,  and  destroy,  or  seize 
as  prisoners  all  persons,  not  the  subjects  of  Great 
Britain,  who  should  attempt  to  take  possession  of  the 
lands  on  the  Ohio  River,  or  any  of  its  tributaries." 
This  expedition  failed;  the  forces  being  too  few  and 
too  poor  to  succeed.  Thus  the  first  important  opera- 
tion of  a  British  army  upon  American  soil  ended  in 
disgrace  and  ruin.  Yet  they  did  some  good  fighting, 
and  Washington  gained  great  honor  for  his  wise 
actions  and  bravery.  But  Dinwiddie  treated  him  so 
disrespectfully  that  he  resigned.  He  was  soon  in- 
vited to  become  an  aide  to  General  Braddock,  who 
was  appointed  by  the  King  to  take  charge  of  all  the 
forces  then  in  the  field. 

When  they  set  out  toward  Fort  Duquesne  with 
3000  men — British  regulars  and  Colonial  troops — 
Braddock  expected  to  find  the  French  and  Indians 
drawn  up  in  regular  lines  in  an  open  field,  and  he 
thought  that  he  would  only  need  to  make  a  bold 
attack  and  they  would  all  run.  Washington  told 
him  that  Indians  fought  by  hiding  behind  trees  and 


1 6  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

lying  in  wait  in  unexpected  places,  and  he  cautioned 
the  English  general  to  send  out  scouts  in  advance  of 
the  troops.  But  Braddock  would  not  listen  ;  on  the 
contrary  he  exhibited  towards  him  the  most  un- 
reasoning obstinacy  and  most  irascible  temper.  He 
knew  more  about  fighting  than  this  young  colonial 
captain  could  tell  him — until  the  Indians  fell  upon  his 
ranks  just  as  Washington  predicted,  sending  bullets 
thick  and  fast  into  them,  while  the  amazed  Britishers 
saw  nothing  but  trees  at  which  to  return  fire.  Many 
of  the  officers  fell  ;  Braddock  himself  was  wounded, 
and  Washington  had  to  take  command,  and  con- 
ducted the  retreat  in  a  masterly  manner.  He  met 
the  foe  with  their  own  weapons  ;  he  scattered  his 
men  among  the  trees  ;  he  rode  here  and  there  giving 
orders  ;  two  horses  were  shot  from  under  him,  and 
four  bullets  passed  through  his  coat,  but  he  was  not 
harmed.  He  checked  the  advance  of  the  French  and 
Indians,  but  not  until  nearly  half  of  the  English 
troops  had  been  killed. 

This  affair  showed  the  British  Government  what 
Washington  could  do,  and  when  a  new  force  was 
raised  he  was  put  in  command  of  2000  men  ;  but 
feeling  deeply  repulsed  by  the  condition  of  the  army, 
he  resigned  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Duquesne  in 
November,  1758. 

The  next  year  he  married  a  rich  and  beautiful 
widow,  Mrs.  Martha  Custis  ;  she,  with  her  two  chil- 
dren, he  took  to  his  family  mansion  at  Mount  Vernon. 
He  took  no  part  in  military  life  now,  but  attended  to 
his  large  estates. 

Thus  at  27,  we  find  Washington  a  country  gen- 
tleman, proprietor  of  a  plantation  upon  which  wheat 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  Ty 

and  tobacco  were  raised,  and  fisheries  and  brickyards 
carried  on.  He  had  about  125  slaves.  He  was  a 
good  master ;  and  directed  in  his  will  that  on  his 
death  his  slaves  should  have  their  freedom.  He  be- 
came a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  but 
seldom  took  any  active  part.  When  he  spoke  at  all, 
it  was  briefly,  but  Patrick  Henry  said  that  he  was, 


WASHINGTON'S  HOUSE,  MOUNT  VERNON. 

"  for  solid  information  and  sound  judgment,  unques- 
tionably the  greatest  man  in  the  Assembly." 

The  Federal  Constitution  is  the  result  of  the  labors 
of  a  convention  called  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787, 
when  it  was  feared  by  many  that  the  Union  was  in 
danger,  from  inability  to  pay  soldiers  who  had,  in 
1783,  been  disbanded  on  a  declaration  of  peace  and 
an  acknowledgment  of  independence  ;  from  prostra- 


jg  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

tion  of  the  public  credit ;  and  from  the  neglect  to 
provide  for  the  payment  of  even  the  interest  on  the 
public  debt.  A  large  portion  of  the  convention  clung 
to  the  confederacy  of  the  States,  and  advocated  a  re- 
vival of  the  old  articles  of  confederation  with  addi- 
tional powers  to  Congress.  A  long  discussion  fol- 
lowed, but  a  constitution  for  the  people  embodying 
a  division  of  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  pow- 
ers prevailed,  and  the  result  is  now  witnessed  in  our 
Federal  Constitution.  The  Revolutionary  War  lasted 
but  seven  years,  while  the  political  revolution  direc- 
ting it  lasted  thirteen  years.  This  was  completed  on 
April  30,  1789,  when  Washington  was  inaugurated 
as  the  first  President  under  the  Federal  Constitution. 

The  meeting  of  the  new  Government  was  to  be  on 
March  4,  1789  ;  but  so  backward  were  some  of  the 
States  in  sending  representatives  that  it  was  April  6 
before  a  quorum  of  both  Houses  could  be  formed. 
On  the  votes  for  President  and  Vice- President  being 
opened  and  counted,  it  was  found  that  Washington 
had  received  the  largest  number  of  suffrages,  and 
John  Adams  the  next  largest.  The  former,  there- 
fore, stood  in  the  position  of  President ;  the  latter  in 
that  of  Vice-President.  It  was  on  this  way,  originally, 
that  the  two  chief  officers  of  the  Union  were  selected. 
The  news  that  he  had  been  chosen  to  the  Presidency 
was  communicated  to  Washington  on  April  14.  He 
departed  for  the  seat  of  Government  on  the  i6th. 
His  journey  to  New  York  was  one  continued  triumph. 
The  roads  were  lined  with  people  who  came  out  to 
see  him  as  he  passed. 

Continuing  his  journey,  he  arrived  on  the  banks 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  TQ 

of  the  Delaware,  close  to  the  city  of  Trenton.  The 
opposite  shore  of  the  river  was  thronged  with  an 
enthusiastic  crowd.  An  arch,  composed  of  laurels 
and  hot-house  flowers,  spanned  the  bridge  and  on 
the  crown  of  the  arch,  in  letters  of  leaves  and  blos- 
soms, were  the  words,  "  December  26,  1776,"  while 
on  the  space  beneath  was  the  sentence,  "  The  De- 
fender of  the  Mothers  will  be  the  Protector  of  the 
Daughters."  Here  the  matrons  of  the  city  were 
drawn  up,  and,  as  Washington  passed  under  the 
arch,  a  number  of  young  girls,  dressed  in  white  and 
crowned  with  garlands,  strewed  flowers  before  him. 
and  chanted  a  song  of  welcome. 

Washington  reached  New  York  City  on  April  23, 
but  the  inauguration  did  not  take  place  until  a  week 
later.  On  the  morning  of  April  30,  religious  ser- 
vices were  held  in  all  the  churches.  At  noon  the 
city  troops  paraded  before  Washington's  door,  and 
soon  afterwards  the  Committees  of  Congress  and 
heads  of  departments  arrived  in  their  carriages.  A 
procession  was  formed,  and,  preceded  by  troops, 
moved  forward  to  the  Old  City  Hall,  standing  on 
the  sight  of  the  present  Custom-house.  Washing- 
ton rode  in  a  state  coach,  and  the  chief  officials  in 
their  own  carriages.  The  Foreign  Ministers  and  a 
long  train  of  citizens  followed ;  and  the  windows 
along  the  whole  line  of  the  route  were  crowded  with 
spectators.  On  nearing  the  Hall,  Washington  and 
his  suite  alighted  from  their  carriages,  and  passed 
through  two  lines  of  troops  into  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber, where  the  Vice-President,  the  Senate,  and  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were 


20  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

assembled.  John  Adams,  as  the  Vice-President,  con- 
ducted Washington  to  a  chair  of  state  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  room.  After  a  solemn  pause,  the  Vice-President 
rose,  and  informed  the  President  that  all  things 
were  prepared  for  him  to  take  the  oath  of  office. 
It  was  arranged  that  the  oath  should  be  administered 
by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  in  a  balcony  of  the  Senate 
Chamber,  and  in  full  view  of  the  people  assembled 
below. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  Washington  came  out  on 
the  balcony,  accompanied  by  various  public  officers, 
and  by  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. The  President-elect  was  clad  in  a  full 
suit  of  dark  brown  cloth,  of  American  manufacture, 
with  a  steel-hilted  dress  sword,  white  silk  stock- 
ings, and  silver  shoe-buckles ;  and  his  hair  was 
dressed  and  powdered  in  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and 
worn  in  a  bag  and  solitaire.  Loud  shouts  greeted 
his  appearance.  He  was  evidently  somewhat 
shaken  by  this  testimony  of  public  affection,  and, 
advancing  to  the  front  of  the  balcony,  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  heart,  bowed  several  times,  and  then  re- 
tired to  an  arm-chair  near  the  table.  He  was  now 
supported  on  the  right  by  John  Adams,  and  on  the 
left  by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  while  in  the  rear 
were  several  of  his  old  friends  and  military  com- 
panions. The  Bible  was  held  up  on  its  crimson 
cushion  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate,  while  the 
Chancellor  read  the  terms  of  the  oath,  slowly  and 
distinctly.  These  were:  "I  do  solemnly  swear 
that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my 


THB  INAUGURATION  OF  WASHINGTON. 


21 


22  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States."  While  the  words  were 
being  recited,  Washington  kept  his  hand  on  the 
open  Bible,  and  on  the  conclusion  of  the  oath  he 
solemnly  responded,  4 '  I  swear — so  help  me  God ! ' ' 
The  secretary  offered  to  raise  the  Bible  to  his  lips; 
but  he  bowed  down  reverently,  and  kissed  it.  The 
Chancellor  now  stepped  forward,  and  exclaimed, 
"Long  live  George  Washington,  President  of  the 
United  States!"  A  flag  was  run  up  above  the 
cupola  of  the  Hall;  thirteen  guns  on  the  battery 
were  discharged;  the  bells  of  the  city  burst  into 
joyous  peals;  and  the  voices  of  the  people  again 
poured  forth  the  grandest  of  all  forms  of  homage. 

In  all  governments  there  must  be  parties.  At  the 
beginning,  we  had  the  Republicans  (now  the  Demo- 
crats), who  desired  a  government  republican  in  form 
and  democratic  in  spirit,  with  right  of  local  self- 
government  and  State  rights  ever  uppermost.  The 
Federalists  desired  a  government  republican  in  form, 
with  checks  upon  the  impulses  or  passions  of  the 
people;  liberty,  sternly  regulated  by  law,  and  that 
law  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  central  authority 
— the  authority  of  the  National  Government  to  be 
final  in  appeals. 

1  Party  hostilities  were  not  manifested  in  the  Presi- 
dential election.  All  bowed  to  the  popularity  of 
Washington,  and  he  was  unanimously  nominated. 
He  selected  his  cabinet  from  the  leading  minds  of  both 
parties,  and  while  himself  a  recognized  Federalist, 
all  felt  that  he  was  acting  for  the  good  of  all,  and  in 
the  earlier  years  of  his  administration  none  disputed 
this  fact. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  23 

As  the  new  measures  of  the  Government  advanced, 
however,  the  anti-Federalists  organized  an  opposition 
to  the  party  in  power.  Immediate  danger  had 
passed.  The  Constitution  worked  well.  The  laws 
of  Congress  were  respected;  its  calls  on  the  States  for 
revenue  honored,  and  Washington  devoted  much  of 
his  first  and  second  messages  to  showing  the  grow- 
ing prosperity  of  the  country,  and  the  respect  which 
it  was  beginning  to  excite  abroad.  But  where  there 
is  political  power,  there  is  opposition  in  a  free  land, 
and  the  great  leaders  of  that  day  neither  forfeited 
their  reputations  as  patriots,  or  their  characters  as 
statesmen,  by  the  assertion  of  honest  differences  of 
opinion.  Washington,  Adams,  and  Hamilton  were 
the  recognized  leaders  of  the  Federalists,  the  firm 
friends  of  the  Constitution.  The  success  of  this 
instrument  modified  the  views  of  the  anti-Federalists,, 
and  Madison,  of  Virginia,  its  recognized  friend  when 
it  was  in  preparation,  joined  with  others  who  had 
been  its  friends  in  opposing  the  administration, 
and  soon  became  recognized  leaders  of  the  anti- 
Federalists.  Jefferson  was  then  on  a  mission  to 
France,  and  not  until  some  years  thereafter  did  he 
array  himself  with  those  opposed  to  centralized 
power  in  the  nation.  He  returned  in  November, 
1789,  and  was  called  to  Washington's  Cabinet. 

It  was  a  great  Cabinet.  Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
was  deservedly  made  Secretary  of  State,  which 
is  looked  upon  as  the  chief  office  in  the  gift  of  the 
administration.  Alexander  Hamilton,  of  New 
York,  who  had  taken  part  in  the  battles  of  White 
Plains,  Trenton,  and  Princeton,  and  in  the  second 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


year  of  the  war  was  made  Washington's  aide-de- 
camp and  confidential  military  secretary,  and  who 
remained  with  the  army  till  the  British  surrendered 
at  Yorktown,  where  he  was  at  the  head  of  his  com- 
mand, was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury. 

Henry  Knox, of  Mas- 
sachusetts, took  a 
conspicuous  part  in 
the  Battle  of  Tren- 
ton, where  he  was 
wounded,  but  was  no 
less  active  in  the  suc- 
ceeding battles  of 
Princeton,  Brandy- 
wine  and  German- 
town.  He  was  com- 
mended for  his  mili- 
tary skill  and  cool, 
determined  bravery 
at  Yorktown  ;  when 
Congress  advanced 
him  to  the  rank 
of  Major-General 
and  he  took  pos- 
session of  New  York 
when  the  British 
finally  evacuated  it 
in  1783.  He  shared  intimately  and  constantly  in  all 
the  Councils  with  Washington  in  the  field,  and  quite 
naturally  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War. 

Edmund  Randolph,  who  had  been  Governor  of 
Virginia,  and  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, was  appointed  Attorney-General.  He  was 


HAMILTON. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  35 

advanced  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  when 
Jefferson  resigned  in  1794. 

The  first  session  of  Congress,  held  in  New  York, 
sat  for  nearly  six  months.  Nearly  all  the  laws 
framed  pointed  to  the  organization  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  discussions  were  general  and  pro- 
tracted. The  Federalists  carried  their  measures  by 
small  majorities. 

Much  of  the  second  session  was  devoted  to  the 
discussion  of  the  able  reports  of  Hamilton,  and  their 
final  adoption  did  much  to  build  up  the  credit  of  the 
nation  and  to  promote  its  industries.  He  was  the 
author  of  the  protective  system.  He  recommended 
the  funding  of  the  war  debt,  the  assumption  of  the 
State  war  debts  by  the  National  Government,  the 
providing  of  a  system  of  revenue  for  the  collection 
of  duties  on  imports,  and  an  internal  excise.  His 
advocacy  of  a  protective  tariff  was  plain,  for  he  de- 
clared it  be  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  encouragement  of  manufacturers  that  du- 
ties be  laid  on  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  imported. 

The  third  session  of  Congress  was  held  at  Phila- 
delphia, though  the  seat  of  the  National  Government 
had,  at  the  previous  one,  been  fixed  on  the  Potomac. 
To  complete  Hamilton's  financial  system,  a  national 
bank  was  incorporated.  On  this  project  both  the 
members  of  Congress  and  of  the  Cabinet  were  di- 
vided, but  it  passed,  and  was  promptly  approved  by 
Washington.  It  came  to  be  known  that  Jefferson 
and  Hamilton  held  opposing  views  on  many  ques- 
tions of  government,  and  these  influenced  the 
action  of  Congress,  and  passed  to  the  people,  who 


26  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

were  thus  early  believed  to  be  almost  equally  divided 
on  the  more  essential  political  issues.  Before  the 
close  of  the  session,  Vermont  and  Kentucky  were 
admitted  to  the  Union.  Vermont  was  the  first  State 
admitted  in  addition  to  the  original  thirteen.  True, 
North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  had  rejected  the 
Constitution,  but  they  reconsidered  their  action  and 
came  in,  the  former  in  November,  1789,  and  the 
latter  in  May,  1790. 

The  next  Congress  had  a  majority  in  both  branches 
favorable  to  the  administration.  It  met  at  Philadel- 
phia in  October,  1791.  The  exciting  measure  of 
the  session  was  the  Excise  Act.  The  people  of  west- 
ern Pennsylvania,  largely  interested  in  distilleries, 
prepared  for  armed  resistance  to  the  excise  law,  but 
at  the  same  session  a  national  militia  law  had  been 
passed,  and  Washington  took  advantage  of  this  to 
suppress  the  "  Whisky  (or  Shaw's)  Rebellion"  in  its 
incipiency.  It  was  a  hasty,  rash  undertaking,  yet 
was  dealt  with  so  firmly  that  the  action  of  the  au- 
thorities strengthened  the  law  and  the  respect  for 
order. 

Congress  passed  an  apportionment  bill,  which 
based  the  congressional  representation  on  the  census 
taken  in  1790,  the  basis  being  33,000  inhabitants  for 
each  representative.  The  second  session  sat  from 
November,  1792,  to  March,  1793,  an^  was  occupied 
in  discussing  the  foreign  and  domestic  relations  of 
the  country. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  Constitution, 
before  its  ratification,  was  the  absence  of  a  distinct 
bill  of  rights,  which  should  recognize  "the equality 
of  all  men,  and  their  rights  to  life,  liberty  and  the 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  37 

pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  the  first  Congress  framed 
a  bill  containing  twelve  articles,  ten  of  which  were 
afterwards  ratified  as  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. Yet  State  sovereignty,  then  imperfectly  de- 
fined, was  the  prevailing  idea  in  the  minds  of  the 
Anti-Federalists,  and  they  took  every  opportunity 
to  oppose  any  extended  delegation  of  authority  from 


INDEPENDENCE   HAU,,    AS   IT  WAS  IN    1776. 

the  States  to  the  Union.  They  contended  that  the 
power  of  the  State  should  be  supreme,  and  charged 
the  Federalists  with  monarchical  tendencies.  They 
opposed  Hamilton's  national  bank  scheme,  and  Jef- 
ferson and  Randolph  expressed  the  opinion  that  it 
was  unconstitutional — that  a  bank  was  not  author- 
ized by  the  Constitution,  and  that  it  would  prevent 


28  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  States  from  maintaining  banks.  But  when  the 
bill  of  rights  had  been  incorporated  in  and  attached 
to  the  Constitution  as  amendments,  Jefferson  with 
rare  political  sagacity  withdrew  all  opposition  to  the 
instrument  itself,  and  the  Anti-Federalists  gladly 
followed  his  lead,  for  they  felt  that  they  had  labored 
under  many  partisan  disadvantages.  The  Constitu- 
tion was  from  the  first  too  strong  for  successful 
resistance,  and  when  opposition  was  confessedly 
abandoned  the  party  name  was  changed,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Jefferson,  to  that  of  Republican.  The 
Anti-Federalists  were  at  first  disposed  to  call  their 
party  the  Democratic-Republicans,  but  finally  called 
it  simply  Republican,  to  avoid  the  opposite  of  the 
extreme  which  they  charged  against  the  Federalists. 
Each  party  had  its  taunts  in  use,  the  Federalists 
being  denounced  as  monarchists,  the  Anti- Federal- 
ists as  Democrats;  the  one  presumed  to  be  looking 
forward  to  monarchy,  the  other  to  the  rule  of  the 
mob. 

By  1793  partisan  lines,  under  the  names  of  Fed- 
eralists and  Republicans,  were  plainly  drawn. 
Personal  ambition  had  much  to  do  with  it,  for 
Washington  had  expressed  his  desire  to  retire  to 
private  life.  While  he  remained  at  the  head  of 
affairs  he  was  unwilling  to  part  with  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation,  but  without  success.  Before  the  close 
of  the  first  Constitutional  Presidency,  Washington 
became  convinced  that  the  people  desired  him  to 
accept  a  re-election,  and  he  was  accordingly  a  candi- 
date and  unanimously  chosen.  John  Adams  was 
re-elected  Vice-President,  receiving  77  votes  to  50 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  29 

for  George  Clinton,  of  New  York.  The  electors 
could  not  vote  for  Washington  and  Jefferson,  both 
being  from  Virginia. 

Soon   after   the   inauguration,    Genet,    an   envoy 


GEORGE  CUNTON. 


from  the  French  republic,  arrived  and  sought  to 
excite  the  sympathy  of  the  United  States  and  involve 
it  in  a  war  with  Great  Britain.  Jefferson  and  his 
Republican  party  warmly  sympathized  with  France, 


30  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

and  insisted  that  gratitude  for  revolutionary  favors 
commanded  aid  to  France  in  her  struggles.  The 
Federalists,  under  Washington  and  Hamilton,  fa- 
vored non-intervention,  and  insisted  that  we  should 
maintain  friendly  relations  with  Great  Britain. 
Washington  showed  his  usual  firmness,  and  issued 
his  celebrated  proclamation  of  neutrality.  This  has 
ever  since  been  the  accepted '  foreign  policy  of  the 
nation. 

The  French  agitation  showed  its  impress  as  late 
as  1794,  when  a  resolution  to  cut  off  intercourse  with 
Great  Britain  passed  the  House,  and  was  defeated  in 
the  Senate  only  by  casting  the  vote  of  the  Vice- 
President,  John  Adams.  Jefferson  left  the  Cabinet 
the  December  previous,  and  retired  to  his  plantation 
in  Virginia,  where  he  spent  his  leisure  in  writing 
political  essays  and  organizing  the  Republican  party, 
of  which  he  was  the  acknowledged  founder.  Here 
he  escaped  the  errors  of  his  party  in  Congress,  but  it 
was  a  fact  that  his  friends  not  only  did  not  endorse 
the  non-intervention  policy  of  Washington,  but  that 
they  actively  antagonized  it  in  many  ways.  The 
congressional  leader  in  these  movements  was  James 
Madison;  afterwards  elected  to  the  Presidency.  The 
policy  of  Britain  fed  this  opposition.  The  forts  on 
Lake  Erie  were  still  occupied  by  the  British  soldiery 
in  defiance  of  the  treaty  of  1783;  American  vessels 
were  seized  on  their  way  to  French  ports,  and 
American  citizens  were  impressed ;  England  claiming 
the  right  during  the  Napoleonic  wars  to  man  her 
ships  with  her  subjects  wherever  she  could  find  them. 
To  avoid  a  war,  Washington  sent  John  Jay  as  envoy 
to  England.  He  arrived  in  June,  1794,  and  by 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  31 

November  succeeded  in  making  a  treaty.  It  was 
ratified  in  June,  1795,  by  the  Senate,  though  there 
was  much  opposition,  and  the  feeling  between  the 
Federal  and  Republican  parties  ran  higher  than 
ever.  The  Republicans  denounced  while  the  Fed- 
erals congratulated  Washington.  Under  this  treaty 
the  British  surrendered  possession  of  all  American 
ports,  and  as  General  Wayne  during  the  previous 
summer  had  conquered  the  war-tribes  and  completed 
a  treaty  with  them,  the  country  was  again  on  the 
road  to  prosperity. 

Jefferson  retired  from  the  Cabinet  December  10, 
1793.  He  was  followed  by  Hamilton  on  January  31, 
1795.  His  old  friend  General  Knox  quitted  the 
War  Office  some  time  before.  Washington  felt  con- 
siderably weakened  by  these  retirements  and  could 
now  count  on  but  slight  assistance  in  repelling  the 
attacks  of  the  Democratic  party.  John  Jay  was  in 
England  trying  to  adjust  the  old  differences. 

In  March,  1796,  a  new  issue  was  sprung  in  the 
House  by  a  resolution  requesting  from  the  President 
a  copy  of  the  instructions  to  John  Jay,  who  made  the 
treaty  with  Great  Britain. 

A  storm  of  popular  fury  awaited  the  document. 
Meetings  were  called  in  every  town,  and  few  dared 
to  say  a  word  in  favor  of  the  detested  concessions. 
Jay  was  burned  in  effigy;  Hamilton  was  stoned;  and 
the  British  Minister  at  Philadelphia  was  insulted. 
The  Democrats  were  especially  loud  in  their  condem- 
nation. They  declared  that  such  a  treaty  was  an  act 
of  base  ingratitude  to  France,  and  involved  nothing 
short  of  treason  to  America  herself,  whose  watch- 
"word  should  at  all  times  be  hatred  to  monarchy  and 


32  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

to  England.  Even  the  President  was  treated  with 
little  respect,  and  had  been  compelled  to  rebuke 
those  who  had  sent  some  of  the  more  violent  ad- 
dresses. Hamilton  and  others  defended  the  treaty, 
by  their  pens,  with  great  power  and  marked  effect, 
and  signs  of  a  reaction  became  visible  after  awhile. 
•  In  spite  of  all  the  public  clamor,  the  House,  after 
more  calm  and  able  debates,  passed  the  needed  legis- 
lation to  carry  out  the  treaty  by  a  vote  of  51  to  48, 
and  the  treaty  with  England  was  signed  by  the 
President  August  18,  1795. 

It  was  with  feelings  of  relief  that  Washington 
saw  the  termination  of  his  Presidency  approaching. 
His  Farewell  Address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  was  dated  September  17,  1796,  though  his 
retirement  from  office  was  not  to  take  place  until 
March  4,  in  the  following  year.  In  this  document, 
Washington  announced  the  resolution  he  had  formed 
to  decline  being  considered  among  the  number  of 
those  out  of  whom  a  new  President  was  to  be  chosen. 
He  expressed  the  acknowledgments  he  owed  the 
country  for  the  honors  it  had  conferred  upon  him  ; 
for  the  steadfast  confidence  with  which  it  had  sup- 
ported his  measures,  and  for  the  opportunities  he  had 
thence  enjoyed  of  manifesting  his  inviolable  attach- 
ment to  the  institutions  of  the  land.  The  Constitu- 
tion established  in  1787,  he  observed,  had  a  just 
claim  on  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  entire 
nation.  The  basis  of  the  political  system  was  the 
right  of  the  people  to  make  and  to  alter  their  Consti- 
tutions. But  the  Constitution  existing  for  the  time 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


33 


was  obligatory  upon  all,  until  changed  by  an  explicit 
or  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people. 

Tennessee  was  admitted  to  the  Union  on  June  i, 
1796.     In  the  Presidential  battle  that  followed,  both 


s 


WASHINGTON'S  GRAVE,  MOUNT  VERNON. 

parties  were  confident  and  plainly  arrayed,  and  so 
close  was  the  result  that  the  leaders  of  both  were 
elected — John  Adams  the  nominee  of  the  Federalists 
to  the  Presidency,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  nominee 
3 


34 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


of  the  Republicans,  to  the  Vice-Presidency.  The 
law  which  then  obtained  was  that  the  candidate  who 
received  the  highest  number  of  electoral  votes,  took 
the  first  place,  and  the  next  highest,  the  second. 
Thomas  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina,  was  the  Fed- 
eral nominee  for  Vice-President,  and  Aaron  Burr,  of 
New  York,  of  the  Republicans.  John  Adams,  re- 
ceived 7 1  electoral  votes ;  Thomas  Jefferson,  68 ; 
Thomas  Pinckney,  59 ;  Aaron  Burr,  30 ;  Samuel 
Adams,  the  "silver-tongued  orator"  of  independence 
fame,  15  ;  and  scattering,  37. 

Upon  the  inauguration  of  John  Adams,  March  4, 
1797,  Washington  retired  to  his  family-seat  at  Mount 
Vernon,  where  he  remained  till  called  again  by 
Adams  to  take  command  of  the  new  army,  organized 
in  May,  1798.  He  died  December  14,  1799,  aged  68 
years  and  was  buried  at  Mount  Vernon. 

To  all  Americans,  the  life  of  George  Washington 
is  the  noblest,  the  grandest,  and  the  most  influential 
in  all  our  history,  and  ranks  beside  the  most  illus- 
trious characters  that  have  ever  lived. 


JOHN  ADAMS.  35 


JOHN   ADAMS— 1797-1801. 

JOHN  ADAMS,  the  second  President,  was  born  in 
Massachusetts  on  October  30,  1736.  His  parents 
were  of  the  class,  then  abounding  in  New  Eng- 
land, who  united  the  profession  of  agriculture 
with  some  of  the  mechanic  arts.  His  ancestor 
Henry  had  emigrated  from  England  in  1632, 
and  had  established  himself  at  Braintree  with 
six  sons,  all  of  whom  married  :  from  one  President 
Adams  descended,  and  from  another  that  Samuel 
Adams  who,  with  John  Hancock,  was  by  name  pro- 
scribed by  an  Act  of  the  British  Parliament,  for  the 
conspicuous  part  he  acted  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment. When  15  years  of  age,  his  father  proposed  to 
John  either  to  follow  the  family  pursuits,  and  to 
receive  in  due  time  his  portion  of  the  estate,  or  to 
have  the  expense  of  a  learned  education  bestowed 
upon  him,  with  which,  instead  of  any  fortune,  he 
was  to  make  his  way  in  future  life.  He  chose  the 
latter  ;  and  having  received  some  preparatory  in- 
struction, was  admitted  at  Harvard  College  in  1751. 
After  graduating  in  1755,  he  removed  to  the  town 
of  Worcester,  where,  according  to  the  economical 
practice  of  that  day  in  New  England,  he  became  a 
tutor  in  a  grammar  school,  and  at  the  same  time 
began  the  study  of  law  ;  and  was  admitted  to  practice 
in  1758.  In  1765  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  his  native  town  to  the  congress  of  the 
province.  His  first  prominent  appearance  in  political 
affairs  was  at  a  meeting  to  oppose  the  Stamp  Act. 


36  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  resolutions  he  proposed  were  carried  unani- 
mously, and  were  adopted  by  more  than  forty  other 
towns.  In  1768  he  removed  to  Boston. 

When  it  was  determined,  in  1774,  to  assemble  a 
general  Congress  from  the  several  Colonies,  Adams 
was  one  of  those  selected  by  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Before  departing  for  Philadelphia  to  join 
the  Congress,  he  parted  with  his  fellow-student  and 
associate  at  the  bar,  Jonathan  Sewall,  who  had 
attained  the  rank  of  attorney-general,  and  was 
necessarily  opposed  to  his  political  views.  Sewall 
made  an  effort  to  change  his  determination,  and  to 
deter  him  from  going  to  the  Congress.  He  urged 
that  Britain  was  determined  on  her  system,  and  was 
irresistible,  and  would  be  destructive  to  him  and  all 
those  who  should  persevere  in  opposition  to  her  de- 
signs. To  this  Adams  replied  :  "I  know  that  Great 
Britain  has  determined  on  her  system,  and  that  very 
fact  determines  me  on  mine.  You  know  I  have 
been  constant  and  uniform  in  opposition  to  her  meas- 
ures ;  the  die  is  now  cast ;  I  have  passed  the  Rubicon; 
to  swim  or  sink,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish  with 
my  country,  is  my  unalterable  determination." 

When  the  Continental  Congress  assembled  Adams 
became  one  of  its  most  active  and  energetic  leaders. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  framed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  and  one  of  the 
most  powerful  advocates  for  its  adoption  by  the  gen- 
eral body  ;  and  by  his  eloquence  obtained  the  unan- 
imous suffrages  of  that  assembly.  Jefferson  said, 
"Mr.  Adams  was  the  Colossus  on  that  floor." 
Though  he  was  appointed  chief-justice  in  1776,  he 
declined  the  office,  in  order  to  dedicate  his  talents  to 
the  general  purpose  of  the  defence  of  the  country. 


JOHN  ADAMS. 


37 


In  1777  he,  with  three  other  members,  was  ap- 
pointed a  commissioner  to  France.  He  remained  in 
Paris  nearly  two  years,  when,  in  consequence  of  dis- 
agreements, all  but  Franklin  were  recalled.  In  the 


JOHN   ADAMS. 


end  of  1779  he  was  charged  with  two  commissions, 
— one  to  treat  for  peace,  the  other  empowering  him 
to  form  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  He 
went  to  Holland,  and  there,  in  opposition  to  the  in- 


38  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

flueuce  and  talents  of  the  British  Minister,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  negotiating  a  loan,  and  in  procuring  the 
assistance  of  that  country  in  the  defence  against 
Great  Britain.  He  formed  a  commercial  treaty  with 
Holland.  In  1785  he  was  appointed  Ambassador  to 
the  Court  of  his  former  Sovereign,  King  George  III. 
He  returned  home  in  1787,  after  devoting  ten  years 
to  the  public  service  ;  received  the  thanks  of  Con- 
gress, and  was  elected  under  the  Presidency  of  Wash- 
ington, to  the  office  of  Vice-President.  In  framing 
fundamental  laws  and  State  papers,  he  displayed 
the  highest  qualities  of  a  jurist  and  a  statesman, 
while  in  his  negotiations  abroad  he  exhibited  rare 
diplomatic  sagacity.  He  was  among  the  strongest 
and  wisest  of  our  State  Builders,  and  no  other  man 
had  such  claims  to  be  the  immediate  successor  of 
Washington. 

In  the  Presidential  contest,  the  Democrats  had  one 
advantage  over  the  Federalists.  Their  allegiance 
was  given  entirely  to  one  man,  while  their  opponents 
were  divided  in  their  regards  among  divers  candi- 
dates. Several  influential  leaders  in  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  States  desired  to  return  Alexander 
Hamilton;  others  were  inclined  to  support  John  Jay; 
but  to  the  greater  number  John  Adams  seemed  the 
fittest  person  for  filling  the  office.  Hamilton  was 
considered  too  much  inclined  towards  England,  and 
Jay  had  rendered  himself  unpopular  by  his  recent 
treaty  with  Great  Britain.  The  contest,  therefore, 
narrowed  itself  into  a  struggle  between  John  Adams 
and  Thomas  Jefferson.  Adams  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  many  in  the  Northern  States;  even  among  the 
Southern,  he  was  not  entirely  devoid  of  friends  and 


JOHN  ADAMS.  39 

believers;  and  Jefferson  himself  observed  that  he  was 
the  only  sure  barrier  against  Hamilton's  getting  in. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  election  was  a  very  close 
one.  The  votes  received  by  Adams  were  71,  which 
was  one  more  than  the  requisite  number.  Jefferson 
stood  only  three  votes  lower,  and  therefore  became 
Vice-President.  Although  Adams  was  thus  success- 
ful, the  narrowness  of  his  majority  (and  that  it  was 
a  majority  at  all  was  due  to  a  few  unexpected  votes 
from  the  South)  showed  how  strong  a  party  existed 
against  the  opinions  which  he  embodied.  He 
called  himself  "the  President  of  three  votes,"  and 
felt  that  his  position  was  insecure,  or  at  least  ex- 
tremely difficult.  Yet  he  determined  to  abate  not 
one  jot  in  vindication  of  his  opinions.  On  March 
4,  1797,  he  took  the  oath  of  office.  The  ceremony 
was  performed  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
without  any  distinctive  circumstances.  In  his  inau- 
gural speech,  Adams  made  it  sufficiently  clear  that 
his  alleged  preference  for  a  monarchy  had  no  foun- 
dation in  fact,  and  it  was  generally  admitted  that  his 
statement  of  principles  was  satisfactory.  Washington 
was  present  as  a  spectator.  Adams  adopted  as  his 
own  the  Cabinet  left  by  Washington.  George  Cabot 
of  Massachusetts  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  May  3,  1798.  Naval  affairs  had  been  under 
the  control  of  the  Secretary  of  War  until  the  Navy 
Department  was  organized,  April  30,  1798. 

The  French  Revolution  now  reached  its  highest 
point,  and  our  people  naturally  took  sides.  Adams 
found  he  would  have  to  arm  to  preserve  neutrality 
and  at  the  same  time  punish  the  aggression  of  either 
of  the  combatants.  This  was  our  first  exhibition  of 


40  THE  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

" armed  neutrality."  A  navy  was  quickly  raised, 
and  every  preparation  made  for  defending  our  rights. 
An  alliance  with  France  was  refused,  our  minister 
was  dismissed;  and  the  French  navy  began  to  cripple 
our  trade.  In  May,  1797,  President  Adams  felt  it 
his  duty  to  call  an  extra  session  of  Congress.  The 
Senate  approved  of  negotiations  for  reconciliation 
with  France.  They  were  attempted,  but  proved 
fruitless.  Our  envoys  were  informed  that  in  order 
to  secure  peace  the  United  States  must  make  a  loan 
to  the  French  Government,  and  pay  secret  bribes  to 
members  of  the  Directory.  These  demands  were  re- 
sisted with  just  disdain;  and  Pinckney  exclaimed, 
in  a  sentence  which  has  since  become  famous, 
"Millions  for  defence,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute." 

In  May,  an  army  was  voted.  To  command  this 
force  Washington  was  called  from  his  retirement, 
and,  as  might  have  been  expected  of  him,  at  once 
obeyed  the  call.  He  stipulated  that  Hamilton  should 
be  the  acting  Commander-in-Chief,  and  that  the 
principal  officers  should  be  such  as  he  approved; 
and,  as  on  previous  occasions,  he  declined  to  receive 
any  part  of  the  emoluments  attached  to  the  office, 
except  as  a  reimbursement  of  sums  he  might  himself 
lay  out.  A  large  part  of  his  time,  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  was  taken  up  with  the  organization  of  the  new 
force  which  it  was  found  necessary  to  create. 

For  the  office  of  his  Inspector-General,  and  his 
two  Major-Generals,  he  proposed  Hamilton,  Charles 
Cotesworth  Pinckney,  and  General  Henry  Knox. 
This  arrangement  displeased  Knox,  who  believed, 
that  as  an  older  officer  than  either  of  the  other  two, 
he  had  a  claim  to  the  poet  of  Inspector-General. 


JOHN  ADAMS.  41 

An  attempt  was  made  by  some  members  of  Con- 
gress to  bring  on  a  declaration  of  war ;  but  the  attempt 
failed.  The  President  and  his  Cabinet  were  hope- 
lessly at  issue,  and  the  latter  omitted  no  opportunity 
of  embarrassing  their  chief's  plans.  The  feeling  of 
the  country  was  in  favor  of  war.  Adams  suffered 
from  the  difficulties  which  naturally  belong  to  moder- 
ation. He  was  not  loved  by  either  of  the  contending 
parties,  since  he  held  aloof  from  the  exaggerations  of 
both.  He  was  disliked  by  the  Democrats,  because  he 
would  not  be  the  servant  of  France ;  he  was  equally 
disliked  by  the  Ultra-Federalists,  because  he  declined 
to  rush  headlong  into  a  wild  crusade  against  the 
Directory  and  its  principles.  Nothing,  however,  was 
more  conspicuous  in  Adams  than  strength  of  will. 
Although  Congress  was  not  heartily  in  his  favor,  and 
his  own  Cabinet  were  very  much  against  him,  he 
persevered  in  his  views. 

The  friends  of  Hamilton,  in  the  early  summer  of 
1799,  appealed  to  Washington  to  put  himself  forward 
once  more  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidential  office. 
The  idea  was  to  some  extent,  though  secretly,  sup- 
ported by  the  members  of  Adams'  Cabinet ;  it  met 
with  great  favor  in  the  New  England  States ;  and 
Gouverneur  Morris  of  New  York  was  commissioned  to 
address  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  a  specific  request 
to  this  effect.  Death  prevented  Washington's  knowing 
anything  of  the  design ;  and  it  is  more  than  likely 
that  he  would  have  refused  to  connect  himself  with 
it.  He  had  done  enough  for  duty,  for  fame,  and  for 
immortality,  and  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  stoop 
to  the  vulgar  level  of  party  intrigues. 


42  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  relations  between  Adams  and  his  Cabinet 
grew  daily  more  unsatisfactory.  The  latter  were  much 
under  the  influence  of  Hamilton,  and  that  influence 
was  unfavorable  to  the  President.  Adams  accordingly 
resolved,  in  the  early  part  of  1800,  on  changing  some 
of  them.  Those  who  had  been  his  confidential  ad- 
visers co-operated  with  others  to  decry  his  character 
for  political  sagacity,  and  even  for  political  honesty. 
Their  proceedings  were  not  unknown  to  Adams,  who 
alleged  that  his  Federal  enemies  were  inflamed  against 
him  because  he  had  refused  to  lend  himself  to  their 
schemes  for  an  alliance  with  England,  and  a  war 
against  France. 

The  position  of  the  President  was  harassed  by  the 
alien  and  sedition  laws,  which  were  unpopular,  and 
were  in  truth  of  so  arbitrary  a  character  as  to  furnish 
very  good  texts  for  the  opposition  to  dilate  upon. 
The  Alien  Act  authorized  the  President  to  expel  from 
the  country  any  foreigner  not  a  citizen,  who  might 
be  suspected  of  conspiring  against  the  Republic.  The 
Sedition  Act  punished  with  fines  and  imprisonment 
those  who  might  circulate  "  any  false,  scandalous,  and 
malicious  writing  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  either  House  of  Congress,  or  the 
President."  The  Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky declared  both  these  Acts  to  be  unconstitutional, 
and  they  were  eventually  repealed.  They  were 
happily  got  rid  of;  though  they  had  the  approval 
of  Washington. 

The  Naturalization  L,aw  was  favored  by  the  Fed- 
eralists, because  they  knew  they  could  acquire  few 
friends  from  newly  arrived  English  or  French  aliens  ; 


JOHN  ADAMS.  43 

among  other  requirements  it  provided  that  an  alien 
must  reside  in  the  United  States  fourteen  years 
before  he  could  vote.  The  Republicans  denounced 
this  law  as  calculated  to  check  immigration,  and 
dangerous  to  our  country  in  the  fact  that  it  caused 
too  many  inhabitants  to  owe  no  allegiance  what- 
ever. They  also  asserted,  as  did  those  who  opposed 
Americanism  later  on  in  our  history,  that  America 
was  properly  an  asylum  for  all  nations,  and  that 
those  coming  to  America  should  freely  share  all  the 
privileges  and  liberties  of  the  government. 

Another  cause  of  unpopularity  was  found  in  the 
war-taxes  imposed  by  Adams'  Administration.  We 
had  now  16  States,  and  the  concurrence  of  nine  of 
these  was  necessary  to  a  Presidential  election.  The 
official  life  of  Adams  terminated  in  his  nominating 
at  midnight  on  March  3,  several  of  his  party  to  high 
judicial  functions,  in  accordance  with  a  measure 
passed  for  reorganizing  the  Federal  Courts.  That 
Act  had  reduced  the  future  number  of  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  had  increased  the  District 
Courts  to  twenty-three.  Adams  considered  it  neces- 
sary that  these  high  judicial  posts  should  be  rilled  by 
members  of  the  Federal  body  as  a  counterpoise  to 
that  reaction  in  favor  of  the  Democrats  which  he 
foresaw  would  follow  the  election  of  Jefferson  to  the 
Presidency;  but  the  precaution  proved  unavailing. 
Just  then,  Oliver  Ellsworth  resigned  his  position  as 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Adams  offered 
the  place  to  Jay,  and,  on  that  gentleman  declining 
to  serve,  because  of  bad  health,  conferred  it  on  John 
Marshall,  who,  not  long  before,  had  been  made 
Secretary  of  State.  The  other  appointments  were 


44  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

conceived  in  the  same  spirit  and  with  the  same 
object,  and  Jefferson  always  resented  them  very 
strongly,  as  a  check  on  the  designs  which  he  de- 
termined to  carry  out  as  soon  as  power  had  passed 
into  his  hands. 

In  the  Presidential  election  of  1800  John  Adams 
was  the  nominee  for  President  and  Charles  C.  Pinck- 
ney  for  Vice-President.  A  "Congressional  Conven- 
tion "  of  Republicans,  held  in  Philadelphia,  nomi- 
nated Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr  as  candidates 
for  these  offices.  On  the  election  which  followed, 
the  Republicans  chose  73  electors  and  the  Federal- 
ists 65.  Each  elector  voted  for  two  persons,  and 
the  Republicans  so  voted  that  they  unwisely  gave 
Jefferson  and  Burr  each  73  votes.  Neither  being 
highest,  the  election  had  to  go  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives for  settlement.  The  Federalists  threw 
65  votes  to  Adams  and  64  to  Pinckney.  The  Repub- 
licans could  have  done  the  same,  but  Burr's  intrigue 
and  ambition  prevented  this,  and  the  result  was  a 
protracted  contest  in  the  House,  and  one  which  put 
the  country  in  great  peril,  but  which  plainly  pointed 
out  some  of  the  imperfections  of  the  electoral  fea- 
tures of  the  Constitution.  Jefferson  was  elected  on 
the  36th  ballot.  The  bitterness  of  this  strife,  and 
the  dangers  which  similar  ones  threatened,  led  to  an 
abandonment  of  the  old  system  and  an  amendment 
was  offered  requiring  the  electors  to  ballot  separately 
for  President  and  Vice-President. 

Jefferson  was  the  first  candidate  nominated  by  a 
Congressional  caucus.  It  convened  in  1800  at 
Philadelphia,  and  nominated  Thomas  Jefferson,  of 


JOHN  ADAMS. 


45 


Virginia,  for  President,  and  Aaron  Burr,  of  New 
York,  for  Vice-President.  Adams  and  Pinckney  were 
not  nominated,  but  ran  and  were  accepted  as  national 
leaders  of  their  party,  just  as  Washington  and  Adams 
were  before  them.  This  contest  broke  the  power  of 

the  Federal  party. 

The  defeat  of 
Adams  was  not  un- 
expected by  him,  yet 
it  was  regretted  by 
his  friends.  He  re- 
tired with  dignity,  at 
68  years  of  age,  to  his 
native  place,  formed 
no  political  factions 
against  those  in 
power,  but  publicly 
expressed  his  appro- 
bation of  the  meas- 
ures which  were  pur- 
sued  by  Jefferson. 
He  died  in  Braintree, 
Massachusetts,  July 
4,  1826 — the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence— and  by  a 

singular  coincidence,  Jefferson,  his  political  rival,  but 
firmly  attached  friend,  died  a  few  hours  earlier  the 
same  day.  Adams'  last  words  were,  "Jefferson  still 
survives ;"  he  was  not  aware  that  Jefferson  had  died 
four  hours  earlier. 

John   Adams    holds   no    second    rank   among  the 


AARON   BURR. 


46  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

founders  of  the  Republic.  In  depth  and  breadth  of 
comprehension;  in  heroic  statesmanship;  in  fire  and 
persuasion  of  eloquence;  in  clearness  of  prophetic 
gaze;  in  warm  sympathies  and  defence  of  human 
rights;  in  his  estimate  of  the  dignity  and  sacredness 
of  man;  in  his  idolatrous  worship  of  Human  Liberty; 
in  his  hatred  of  Despotism;  in  his  matchless  execu- 
tive ability;  in  his  broad  and  varied  political  knowl- 
edge; in  the  depth  and  clearness  with  which  he 
stamped  the  seal  of  his  mind  and  character  upon  the 
men  of  his  time,  and  those  who  were  to  come  after 
him — he  has  had  no  equal  in  our  history. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON— 1801-1809. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  the  third  President,  was 
born  April  2,  1743,  in  Virginia.  He  was  the  eldest 
son  in  a  family  of  eight  children.  At  college  he  was 
noted  for  his  close  application  to  his  studies.  He 
was  versed  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  Italian,  French 
and  Spanish.  He  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1767,  and  his  success  in  his  chosen  profes- 
sion was  remarkable.  In  1769  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses.  He  was  elected 
in  1774  a  member  of  the  Convention  to  choose 
delegates  to  the  first  Continental  Congress  at  Phil- 
adelphia. In  June,  1775,  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
Congress;  and  was  appointed  one  of  a  committee  to 
draft  a  declaration  of  independence — when  he  pro- 
duced that  great  State  paper  and  charter  of  freedom, 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


47 


known  as  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which  on 
July  4,  1776,  was  unanimously  adopted  and  signed 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


by  all  of  the  fifty-six  members  present,   excepting 
John  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania. 


48  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  is  equal  to  any- 
thing ever  borne  on  parchment  or  expressed  in  the 
visible  signs  of  thought.  The  heart  of  Jefferson  in 
writing  it,  and  of  Congress  in  adopting  it,  beat  for 
all  humanity.  In  the  Virginia  Assembly  he  pro- 
cured the  repeal  of  the  laws  of  entail,  the  abolition 
of  primogeniture,  and  the  restoration  of  the  rights 
of  conscience.  These  reforms  he  believed  would  do 
away  with  every  fibre  of  ancient  or  future  aristocracy. 

In  1779  he  succeeded  Patrick  Henry  as  Governor 
of  Virginia.  He  declined  a  re-election  in  1781.  In 
1783  he  returned  to  Congress,  where  he  established 
the  present  Federal  system  of  coinage,  doing  away 
with  the  English  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  In 
1785  he  succeeded  Benjamin  Franklin  as  Minister  at 
Paris;  and  here  began  that  attachment  for  the 
French  nation  which  appeared  in  all  his  subsequent 
career.  He  returned  to  Virginia  in  1789,  shortly 
after  Washington's  election  to  the  Presidency.  He 
was  immediately  offered  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State,  which  he  at  once  accepted.  He  disagreed 
with  Hamilton  in  nearly  all  his  financial  measures, 
and  to  avoid  the  squabblings  among  the  Cabinet  he 
resigned  his  office  December  31,  1793.  At  the  close 
of  Washington's  second  term  he  was  brought  for- 
ward as  the  Presidential  candidate  of  the  Republi- 
cans. John  Adams,  the  Federalist  nominee,  was 
elected,  and  Jefferson  receiving  the  next  highest 
number  of  votes,  was  declared  Vice-President.  The 
offices  were  thus  divided  by  the  candidates  of  the 
two  opposing  parties. 

The  inauguration  of  Jefferson  took  place  March  4, 
1801.  It  would  have  been  more  courteous  had  Adams 


SIGNERS  OP  THE  DECLARATION. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


^W" 

'    ~"    ~    ~X     X-T'  '  s**  ^s"* — 

'       t^y^CS/C^ZrrS  ;6f/~  /^* 

^^&^^2^3^w/«w- 


-^^/?,,^/"  Vx 


SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION. 

remained  at  the  Federal  capitol  until  the  installation 
of  his  successor;  had  he  been  present  at  the  ceremony, 
and  spoken  some  words  of  formal  compliment.  But 
he  was  a  man  of  quick  and  passionate  nature,  and 


52  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

did  not  care  to  grace  the  spectacle  of  his  rival's  entry 
into  power.  He  was  irritated  also  by  the  defection 
of  those  of  his  own  party  whose  treachery  had  caused 
his  defeat.  From  these  causes,  the  retiring  Presi- 
dent felt  unable,  or  unwilling,  to  do  towards  Jefferson 
what  Washington  had  done  towards  himself.  He  left 
the  capitol  just  before  the  inauguration  and  from 
that  time  to  the  end  of  his  long  life  ceased  to  have 
any  vital  influence  on  the  course  of  American 
politics. 

With  the  year  1801,  a  change  took  place  in  the 
policy  of  the  Government.  Jefferson,  the  new  Presi- 
dent, had  forsaken  the  Northern  supporters  of  Inde- 
pendence and  of  the  existing  political  condition.  He 
had  founded  a  party,  the  great  objects  of  which  were 
to  weaken  the  general  powers  of  the  Union,  and  to 
hold  authority  within  the  narrowest  limits.  To  that 
party  he  had  given  the  energy  of  his  genius,  the 
strength  of  his  will,  and  the  force  and  mastery  of  his 
organizing  abilities.  The  mistakes  of  Adams'  Pres- 
idency— mistakes  for  which  the  subordinates  were 
more  responsible  than  the  chief — had  vastly  im- 
proved the  position  of  Jefferson  and  his  friends,  and 
the  new  President  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  body  of  supporters,  with  an  ever-increas- 
ing accession  of  opinion  in  most  parts  of  the  country. 
In  the  period  during  which  he  held  office,  he  was 
able  to  give  a  new  direction  to  affairs,  and  to  create 
an  impulse  which,  with  but  few  checks  or  reactions, 
continued  for  sixty  years. 

On  assuming  office,  Jefferson  was  nearly  58  years 
of  age.  He  was  therefore  about  eight  years  younger 
than  his  rival,  and  represented  a  somewhat  more 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  53 

modern  tone  of  thought.  Starting  on  his  career  with 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  Democratic  party,  he  was 
regarded  with  proportionate  distrust  by  the  Federals; 
but  his  inaugural  speech  was  of  a  nature  to  allay 
their  fears.  None  the  less  was  Jefferson  determined 
to  carry  out  those  projects  of  reform  which  he  con- 
ceived to  be  necessary  to  the  existence  of  Republican 
institutions.  Since  Jefferson's  time,  it  has  been 
usual  for  Presidents,  on  coming  into  power,  to  effect 
a  complete  change  in  the  Administration,  and  to 
make  appointments  in  strict  conformity  with  party 
lines.  There  is  this  to  be  said  for  this  system,  it  is 
obviously  easier  for  a  man  to  work  with  his  own  politi- 
cal followers  than  with  those  who  are  perhaps  biassed 
in  favor  of  different  opinions.  But  to  Jefferson  it 
appeared  an  indispensable  concomitant  of  democratic 
rule.  James  Madison  of  Virginia  became  Secretary 
of  State;  Henry  Dearborn  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary 
of  War;  and  L,evi  Lincoln  of  Massachusetts,  Attorney- 
General.  Madison,  some  years  before,  had  been  one 
of  the  most  energetic  of  the  Federals,  but  had  long 
gone  over  to  the  opposite  party.  Before  the  end  of  the 
year,  Albert  Gallatin  of  Pennsylvania  had  succeeded 
Dexter  in  the  Treasury,  and  Robert  Smith  of  Mary- 
land had  been  made  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

With  little  delay,  Jefferson  set  to  work  reforming 
and  retrenching.  He  reduced  the  army  and  navy; 
cut  down  the  diplomatic  corps;  submitted  to  Congress 
a  bill  for  diminishing  the  Judiciary;  and  proposed  the 
remission  of  taxes.  The  internal  or  Excise  duties, 
always  unpopular,  and  now  no  longer  necessary, 
were  abolished;  and  this  enabled  the  President  to  do 
away  with  a  number  of  offices  which  had  proved 


54 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


burdensome  to  the  country.  The  paying  off  of  the 
national  debt  was  an  excellent  work ;  but  it  could 
hardly  have  been  effected  had  not  Hamilton  already 
placed  the  finances  in  a  healthy  condition. 

In  1802,  a  part  of  the  North-western  Territory, 
which  had  been  first  organized  in  1787,  was  erected 
into  an  independent  State,  with  the  title  of  Ohio. 
The  population  increased  with  extraordinary  rapid- 
ity after  the  large  cession  of  Indian  lands  in  1795, 
consequent  on  the  successful  war  which  had  been 
carried  on  by  General  Wayne.  The  sense  of  secur- 
ity thus  produced  caused  a  rush  of  emigration 
towards  the  North-west,  and  in  1802  Ohio  had  a 
population  of  about  72,000.  The  Constitution  was 
framed  in  November,  and  by  this  instrument  it  was 
provided  that  slavery  should  forever  be  excluded 
from  the  State.  In  1851  another  Constitution  was 
adopted,  but  the  curse  of  negro  bondage  has  never 
been  admitted  within  the  limits  of  this  western 
Government. 

Congress,  on  the  recommendation  of  Jefferson,  es- 
tablished a  uniform  system  of  naturalization,  and  so 
modified  the  law  as  to  make  the  required  residence 
of  aliens  five  years,  instead  of  fourteen,  and  to  per- 
mit a  declaration  of  intention  to  become  a  citizen  at 
the  expiration  of  three  years.  By  his  recommenda- 
tion also  was  established  the  first  sinking  fund  for 
the  redemption  of  the  public  debt.  It  required  the 
setting  apart  annually  for  this  purpose  the  sum  of 
$7,300,000.  Other  measures,  more  partisan  in  their 
character,  were  proposed,  but  Congress  showed  an 
aversion  to  undoing  what  had  been  wisely  done. 
The  provisional  army  had  been  disbanded,  but  the 


56  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

proposition  to  abolish  the  naval  department  was  de- 
feated. 

Now  was  passed  the  first  law  in  relation  to  the 
slave  trade.  It  was  to  prevent  the  importation  of 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  other  persons  of  color  into 
any  port  of  the  United  States  within  a  State  which 
had  prohibited  by  law  the  admission  of  any  such 
person.  The  slave  trade  was  not  then  prohibited  by 
the  Constitution. 

The  most  important  occurrence  under  Jefferson 
was  the  purchase  and  admission  of  Louisiana. 
There  had  been  fears  of  a  war  with  Spain,  which 
arose  over  the  south-western  boundary  line  and  the 
right  of  navigating  the  Mississippi.  Our  Govern- 
ment learned,  in  the  spring  of  1802,  that  Spain  had 
by  a  secret  treaty,  made  in  October,  1800,  actually 
ceded  Louisiana  to  France. 

Bonaparte  proposed  that  we  should  purchase  Louis- 
iana, and  the  offer  was  at  once  accepted.  This  im- 
mense region,  watered  by  one  of  the  finest  rivers  in 
the  world,  and  conferring  the  command  of  all  that 
part  of  America,  was  added  to  the  United  States  for 
$15,000,000.  The  bargain  was  concluded  on  April 
30,  1803,  and  we  took  possession  on  December  2oth. 
Napoleon  observed  that  "  the  new  accession  of  terri- 
tory would  permanently  strengthen  the  power  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  he  had  just  given  to  England 
a  maritime  rival  who  would  sooner  or  latef.  humble 
her  pride."  It  was  objected  by  some  that  the 
Floridas  and  New  Orleans  would  have  been  a  more 
important  acquisition  than  the  whole  of  Louisiana  ; 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  57 

to  which  Jefferson  astutely  replied  that  the  Floridas, 
being  now  surrounded,  must  in  time  be  absorbed  in 
the  Union.  Not  many  years  elapsed  before  his  words 
proved  true,  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  possession 
of  Louisiana  assured  to  us  an  immense  extension 
westward.  This  very  fact,  however,  was  regarded 
by  several  as  a  source  of  danger.  The  Western 
States,  it  was  argued,  had  already  a  considerable 
tendency  to  separate  from  their  Eastern  brethren; 
and,  now  that  they  were  reinforced  by  this  enormous 
region,  would  form  a  distinct  confederation. 

Little  chance  was  afforded  the  Federalists  for  ad- 
verse criticism  in  Congress,  for  the  purchase  proved 
so  popular  that  the  people  greatly  increased  the 
majority  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  Jefferson 
called  it  together  earlier  for  the  purpose  of  ratifi- 
cation. 

The  Republicans  closed  their  first  national  admin- 
istration with  high  prestige.  They  had  met  several 
congressional  reverses  on  questions  where  defeat 
proved  good  fortune,  for  the  Federalists  kept  a 
watchful  defence,  and  were  not  always  wrong.  The 
latter  suffered  numerically,  and  many  of  their  best 
leaders  had  fallen  in  the  congressional  contest  of 
1800  and  1802,  while  the  Republicans  maintained 
their  own  additions  in  talent  and  number. 

In  1804  the  candidates  of  both  parties  were  nom- 
inated by  congressional  caucuses.  Jefferson  and 
George  Clinton  of  New  York  were  the  Republican 
nominees  ;  Charles  C.  Pinckney  and  Rufus  King  of 
New  York  were  the  nominees  of  the  Federalists,  but 
they  only  received  14  out  of  176  electoral  votes. 
Burr  had  come  too  near  the  Presidency  to  be  made 


58  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

prominent  with  Jefferson's  consent,  and  so  was  dropped 
in  favor  of  George  Clinton. 

During  the  development  of  these  events,  affairs 
progressed  in  a  peaceful  and  orderly  fashion.  The 
President  recommended  an  exploring  expedition  across 
the  continent  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  and 
its  members,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  left  the  Mis- 
sissippi on  May  14,  1804.  They  were  absent  over  two 
years,  and  returned  laden  with  information  which  gave 
a  clearer  conception  of  the  vast  and  important  region 
lying  between  the  great  river  and  the  Western  Ocean. 

One  tragic  incident  threw  a  lurid  stain  on  the  po- 
litical contests  of  1804.  A  quarrel  occurred  between 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  the  Vice-President.  The 
former  had  reflected  upon  the  character  of  the  latter 
in  public,  and  had  caused  him  to  lose  his  election  as 
Governor  of  New  York.  Burr  demanded  a  retrac- 
tion, which  Hamilton  refused.  Burr  challenged 
him,  and  they  met.  Hamilton  discharged  his  pistol 
in  the  air,  but  the  fire  of  Burr's  weapon  took  deadly 
effect.  The  wounded  man  expired  July  I3th,  and 
the  event  produced  a  general  sense  of  indignation 
throughout  the  Union. 

Jefferson's  second  term  of  office  began  March  4, 
1805.  His  previous  administration  had  been  singu- 
larly successful.  He  had  reduced  the  public  debt 
more  than  twelve  millions ;  had  lessened  the  taxes ; 
doubled  the  area  of  the  United  States  by  his  judic- 
ious treaties  with  France  and  with  the  Indians ; 
had  chastised  the  Barbary  pirates,  and  advanced  the 
reputation  of  the  country  as  a  naval  Power.  The 
reward  of  these  services  was,  that  he  received  more 


60  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

votes  at  his  re-election  in  1804  than  at  his  first  ap- 
pointment to  the  Presidency  in  1800. 

The  struggle  of  Napoleon  in  Europe  with  the 
allied  Powers  now  gave  Jefferson  an  opportunity 
to  inaugurate  a  foreign  policy.  England  had  for- 
bidden all  trade  with  the  French  and  their  allies, 
and  France  had  in  return  forbidden  all  commerce 
with  England  and  her  colonies.  Both  of  these  de- 
crees violated  our  neutral  rights,  and  were  calculated 
to  destroy  our  commerce,  which  by  this  time  had 
become  quite  imposing. 

Congress  acted  promptly,  and  passed  what  is  known 
as  the  Embargo  Act,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Republican  party,  which  claimed  that  the  only 
choice  of  the  people  lay  between  the  embargo  and 
war,  and  that  there  was  no  other  way  to  obtain 
redress  from  England  and  France.  But  the  prom- 
ised effects  of  the  measure  were  not  realized,  and 
when  dissatisfaction  was  manifested  by  the  people, 
the  Federalists  made  the  question  a  political  issue. 
Political  agitation  increased  the  discontent,  and  pub- 
lic opinion  at  one  time  turned  so  strongly  against 
the  law  that  it  was  openly  resisted  on  the  Eastern 
coast,  and  treated  with  almost  as  .open  contempt  on 
the  Canadian  border. 

In  January,  1809,  the  then  closing  administration 
of  Jefferson  had  to  change  front  on  the  question,  and 
the  law  was  repealed. 

During  the  Congress  which  assembled  in  Decem- 
ber, 1805,  the  Republicans  dropped  their  name  and 
accepted  that  of  "  Democrats."  In  all  their  earlier 
strifes  they  had  been  charged  by  their  opponents 
with  desiring  to  run  to  the  extremes  of  the  demo- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  6l 

cratic  or  "  mob  rule,"  and  fear  of  too  general  a  belief 
in  the  truth  of  the  charge  led  them  to  denials  and 
rejection  of  a  name  for  which  the  father  of  their 
party  had  ever  shown  a  fondness.  From  now  on  the 
Jeflfersonian  Republicans  called  themselves  Demo- 
crats, and  the  word  Republicans  passed  into  disuse 
until  later  on  in  the  history  of  our  political  parties, 
the  opponents  of  the  Democracy  accepting  it  as  a 
name  which  filled  the  meaning  of  their  attitude  in 
the  politics  of  the  country. 

A  resolution  appropriating  two  million  dollars  for 
the  acquisition  of  Florida  was  carried  after  an 
animated  debate,  but  the  House  now  attacked  the 
policy  of  the  Government  with  great  vigor,  and  it 
was  not  until  fifteen  years  later  that  Florida  passed 
into  our  possession. 

Public  opinion  was  exasperated  to  a  pitch  of  fury 
by  an  event  which  gave  a  more  than  usually  irritat- 
ing character  to  the  question  of  the  right  of  search. 
The  British  ship-of-war  Leopard  was  cruising  off 
Virginia.  The  American  frigate  Chesapeake  was  not 
far  away.  She  was  hailed,  and  a  boat  despatched 
with  a  letter  to  the  chief  officer,  informing  him  that 
the  English  Admiral  had  given  orders  to  take  any 
British  deserters  from  the  Chesapeake — by  force,  if 
necessary — and  at  the  same  time  to  allow,  on  his 
own  part,  a  search  for  deserters.  Permission  to 
search  was  refused.  The  Leopard  thereupon  fired 
into  the  Chesapeake,  killing  some  of  the  crew ;  and 
the  latter,  being  unprepared  for  action,  immediately 
struck  her  flag.  The  English  officer  in  command 
required  the  muster-roll  of  the  ship,  and  took  off 


62  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

four   men   whom    he   claimed   as   British    subjects. 

Rage  seized  on  the  people  when  the  story  of  the 
Chesapeake  came  to  be  known.  The  slight  resistance 
offered  by  that  vessel  increased  the  general  feeling  of 
mortification  and  anger.  Some  demanded  an  imme- 
diate declaration  of  war  against  England,  and  Jefferson 
observed  that  the  country  had  never  been  in  such  a 
state  since  the  collision  at  Lexington. 

The  commercial  relations  between  America  and 
the  European  belligerents  became  progressively  more 
troublesome  and  vexatious.  In  January,  1807,  Great 
Britain  issued  an  order  prohibiting  the  trade  of  neu- 
trals from  port  to  port  of  the  French  Empire.  This 
was  followed  by  another  order  forbidding  neutral 
nations  to  trade  with  France  and  her  allies,  except 
on  payment  of  tribute  to  Great  Britain.  The  reply 
of  Napoleon  was  a  decree,  issued  from  Milan,  which 
declared  that  every  neutral  vessel  which  should  sub- 
mit to  be  visited  by  a  British  ship,  or  should  pay  the 
tribute  demanded,  would  be  confiscated,  if  afterwards 
found  in  any  part  of  the  French  Empire,  or  if  taken 
by  any  of  the  French  cruisers.  By  these  several 
orders  and  decrees,  almost  every  American  vessel 
sailing  "on  the  ocean  was  liable  to  capture.  Thus  we 
were  made  to  suffer  because  England  and  France 
were  at  war.  As  a  measure  of  protection,  a  law 
laying  an  indefinite  embargo  was  enacted.  The 
measure  was  passed  December  22,  1807.  It  lasted 
fourteen  months.  It  was  unpopular  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

The  embargo  acted  more  to  the  disadvantage  of 
England,  as  being  the  greatest  mercantile  nation  in 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  63 

the  world,  than  to  that  of  France.  For  this  very 
reason  it  enjoyed  the  support  of  the  Democrats,  and 
aroused  the  ire  of  the  Federalists  and  of  those  few 
Democrats  who  had  joined  in  the  political  schism 
created  by  Randolph.  The  feeling  against  England, 
however,  arising  from  the  antagonism  of  previous 
years,  ^.nd  now  intensified  by  the  persistent  assertion 
by  the  British  of  the  right  of  search,  prevailed  over 
every  other  consideration. 

There  was  a  split  among  the  Federalists  as  well  as 
among  the  Democrats.  John  Quincy  Adams,  son  of 
the  late  President,  had  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate 
because  he  differed  from  the  majority  of  his  constitu- 
ents in  supporting  the  measures  of  the  Administra- 
tion. He  wrote  to  the  President  that  it  was  the 
determination  of  the  ruling  party  in  New  England 
to  separate  themselves  from  the  Union  if  the  em- 
bargo was  not  speedily  rescinded.  He  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that,  owing  to  the  severe  pressure  of  the 
embargo  upon  that  mercantile  and  trading  commu- 
nity, they  would  be  supported  in  such  a  course  by 
the  great  body  of  the  people,  and  that  they  were 
already  receiving  the  countenance  of  a  secret  agent 
of  Great  Britain.  This  communication  put  the 
younger  Adams  on  a  more  friendly  footing  with  the 
Democratic  party,  and  under  the  Presidency  of  Madi- 
son, he  was  appointed  Minister  to  St.  Petersburg. 
His  information  may  in  some  points  have  been  incor- 
rect ;  but  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  declared  the 
embargo  ruinous  at  home,  unsatisfactory  to  France, 
and  ineffectual  as  a  retaliation  upon  England. 


64  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

During  the  discussion  of  these  important  and  dif- 
ficult matters,  preparations  were  being  made  for  the 
next  Presidential  election.  Jefferson  had  been  urged 
by  the  Legislatures  of  most  of  the  Republican  States 
to  accept  a  third  term,  but  he  followed  the  patriotic 
example  set  by  his  predecessor,  and  declined.  There 
were  the  two  candidates  of  the  Democratic  party — 
Madison  and  Monroe — both  natives  of  Virginia. 
Madison,  it  was  known,  would  continue  the  policy  of 
Jefferson,  of  whose  administration  he  had  through- 
out been  the  leading  member.  Monroe  received  the 
support  of  John  Randolph,  and  of  those  seceders 
from  the  Democratic  party  who  ranged  themselves 
under  Randolph's  guidance.  The  choice  rested  with 
Madison,  who,  on  the  retirement  of  Jefferson,  would 
be  the  obvious  leader  of  the  great  body  which  his 
intellect  and  character  adorned.  The  strength  of 
the  two  candidates  was  tested  in  a  caucus  of  the 
Democratic  members  of  Congress,  where  a  large 
majority  declared  for  Madison.  He  was,  therefore, 
nominated  for  the  office  of  President,  and  George 
Clinton  of  New  York  for  that  of  Vice-President. 
Charles  C.  Pinckney  and  Rufus  King  were  the  can- 
didates of  the  Federal  party ;  and  the  former  received 
the  votes  of  all  the  New  England  States,  except 
Vermont,  the  vote  of  Delaware,  two  votes  in  Mary- 
land, and  three  in  North  Carolina — making  in  all 
forty-seven  votes.  George  Clinton  received  six  of 
the  nineteen  votes  of  New  York,  and  James  Madison 
all  the  rest,  amounting  to  122.  Madison,  therefore, 
was  the  President  for  the  ensuing  four  years,  and 
Clinton  retained  the  position  of  Vice-President, 
which  he  had  held  since  1805.  Monroe  received 


STATUE  OF  JEFFERSON  IN  FRONT  OF   THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

5  65 


66  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

scarcely  any  support  at  all,  and  even  for  the  inferior 
office  received  only  three  votes. 

Three  days  before  Jefferson  retired  from  office  the 
Embargo  Act  was  repealed. 

Jefferson  bade  farewell  to  Washington  March  4, 
1809,  and  retired  to  his  country-seat  at  Monticello, 
Virginia,  and  expressed  a  great  gratification  at  being 
able  to  exchange  the  tumult  of  politics  for  the  quiet 
of  retirement. 

In  1819  he  took  part  in  founding  the  University 
of  Virginia,  and  acted  as  its  rector  till  his  death; 
which  occurred  on  July  4,  1826,  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  our  Independence.  John  Adams  died  a 
few  hours  later  on  that  very  same  day.  There  was 
a  grand  appropriateness  in  the  time  and  manner  of 
his  death,  which  corresponded  with  the  greatness  of 
his  life.  He  lived  to  an  extreme  age,  scarcely  par- 
ticipating in  any  of  the  weaknesses  which  generally 
attend  it.  His  mind  was  clear  and  vigorous  to  the 
last;  and,  as  if  heaven  desired  to  give  some  signal 
toket  of  its  approval,  that  day  of  all  others  which 
they  would  have  chosen  for  their  departure,  was 
heaven's  choice,  for  Jefferson  and  Adams  will  forever 
divide  the  peculiar  glories  of  the  statesmanship  of 
the  Revolution.  The  following  epitaph,  written  by 
himself,  is  inscribed  on  his  tombstone  at  Monticello: 
"Here  was  buried  Thomas  Jefferson,  Author  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  the  Statute  of  Vir- 
ginia for  Religious  Freedom,  and  Father  of  the 
University  of  Virginia."  He  was  six  feet  two  and 
one-half  inches  high,  and  possessed  a  well-developed 
frame.  He  married  in  1772;  his  wife  bringing  him 
a  large  dowry  in  lands  and  slaves;  but  the  large  and 


JAMES  MADISON.  07 

open  hospitality  with  which  he  entertained  friends 
and  distinguished  foreigners,  left  him  a  bankrupt  at 
his  death.  He  left  one  daughter.  In  religion  he 
was  a  free-thinker.  Slavery  he  considered  an  evil — 
morally  and  politically;  in  reference  to  it  he  said, 
' '  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  remember  that 
God  is  just."  In  1848  his  manuscripts  were  pur- 
chased by  Congress,  and  printed. 


JAMES  MADISON— 1809-1817. 

JAMES  MADISON,  the  fourth  President,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  March  16,  1751;  whither  his  father,  an 
Englishman,  had  emigrated  one  hundred  years  before. 
He  entered  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey,  in 
1769,  and  graduated  in  1771,  after  which  he  studied 
law.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
Convention  in  1776,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Congress  in  1779.  From  this  period  he  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  political  history 
of  the  Republic.  He  was  the  most  influential  advo- 
cate of  a  Convention  of  all  the  States;  and  a  delegate 
to  that  body  in  Philadelphia  whose  deliberations  re- 
sulted in  the  abrogation  of  the  old  Articles  of  Con- 
federation and  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  He  was  regarded  as  the  chief 
framer  of  the  Constitution,  and  his  own  arduous  ser- 
vices during  eight  Presidential  years  show  how  well 
he  could  interpret,  in  all  his  executive  acts,  the 
Constitution  in  whose  handiwork  he  had  borne  so 
large  a  share. 


68  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

He  declined  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  when 
Jefferson  resigned  in  1793  under  Washington's  first 
administration,  and  continued  to  serve  in  Congress 
till  1797.  He  offered  the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws, 
and  was  the  author  of  the  Virginia  Resolutions  of 
1798,  which  protested  against  the  attempts  to  in- 
crease the  power  of  the  Federal  Government  by 
forced  constructions  of  general  clauses  in  the  Con- 
stitution. He  boldly  asserted  the  claims  of  the 
United  Colonies  to  the  Western  Territory,  and  to 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River.  He 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  by  Jefferson  in 
1801,  and  filled  that  office  for  eight  years  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  people. 

In  his  Cabinet  he  continued  Robert  Smith  as  Sec- 
retary of  State  until  March  n,  1811,  when  he 
appointed  James  Monroe  of  Virginia  to  the  office. 
Albert  Gallatin  was  continued  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  until  February  9,  1814.  William  Eustis 
of  Massachusetts  was  Secretary  of  War  during  his 
first  term.  John  Armstrong  of  New  York,  James 
Monroe,  and  William  H.  Crawford  successively 
filled  the  office  during  the  second  term. 

Madison  took  office  at  an  epoch  of  gloom,  depres- 
sion and  discontent.  Two  months  earlier  Massa- 
chusetts had  painted  the  general  situation  in  very 
sombre  tones.  "Our  agriculture,"  they  said,  "is 
discouraged;  the  fisheries  abandoned;  navigation  for- 
bidden; our  commerce  at  home  restrained,  if  not 
annihilated;  our  commerce  abroad  cut  off;  our  navy 
sold,  dismantled,  or  degraded  to  the  service  of  cut- 
ters or  gunboats;  the  revenue  extinguished ;  the  course 
of  justice  interrupted,  and  the  nation  weakened  by 


JAMES  MADISON.  69 

internal  animosities  and  divisions,  at  the  moment 
when  it  is  unnecessarily  and  improvidently  exposed 


JAMES   MADISON. 


to  war  with  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain." 
Though  exaggerated  by  the  warmth  of  party  feeling, 
this  statement  was  nearly  true  in  the  main.  By  the 


70  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

people    of   the  North-eastern  States  it  was  greatly 
doubted  whether  matters  would  experience  any  im- 
provement under  Madison's  administration,  but  his 
inaugural  address  had  so  suave  and  conciliatory  a 
character,  that  most  of  his  opponents  were  reassured 
and  inclined  to  at  least  give  him  a  trial.     He  was  a 
man  of  very  large  political  experience;  his  character 
was  honorable  and  amiable;  and  having  at  different 
periods  of  his  life  been  connected  with  both  political 
parties,  it  was  naturally  supposed  that  he  understood 
their   conflicting  views,  and  would  be  desirous   of 
reconciling  extreme  opinions  by  the  adoption  of  some 
middle  course.     Madison,  however,  resolved  to  fol- 
low the  policy  of  Jefferson.     He  desired  to  avoid 
war  with  England,  and  sought  by  skilful  diplomacy 
to  avert  the  dangers  presented  by  both  France  and 
England  in  their  attitude  with  neutrals.     In  May, 
1810,  when  the  Non-intercourse  Act  had  expired, 
Madison  caused  proposals  to  be  made  to  both  bel- 
ligerents, that  if  either  would   revoke   its  hostile 
edict,  the  Non-intercourse  Act  should  be  revived  and 
enforced  against  the  other  nation.      This  Act  had 
been  passed  by  Congress  as  a  substitute  for  the  Em- 
bargo.    France  quickly  accepted  Madison's  proposal, 
and  received  the  benefits  of  the  Act,  and  the  direct 
result  was  to  increase  the  growing  hostility  of  Eng- 
land.    From  this  time  forward  the  negotiations  had 
more  the  character  of  a  diplomatic  contest  than  an 
attempt  to  maintain  peace.      Both  countries  were 
upon  their  mettle,  and  early  in  1811,  Pinckney,  the 
American  minister  to  Great  Britain,   was  recalled, 
and  a  year  later  a  formal  declaration  of  war  was 
made  by  the  United  States. 


JAMES  MADISON. 


Just  prior  to  this,  the  old  issue,  made  by  the  Re- 
publicans against  Hamilton's  scheme  for  a  National 
Bank,  was  revived  by  the  fact  that  the  charter  of  the 
bank  ceased  March  4,  1811,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  recharter  it.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was  in- 
troduced into  Congress,  but  postponed  in  the  House 
by  a  vote  of  65  to  64, 
while  in  the  Senate 
it  was  rejected  by 
the  casting  vote  of 
the  Vice-President, 
Clinton — this  not- 
withstanding its 
provisions  had  been 
framed  or  approved 
by  Gallatiu,  the 
Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  There- 
upon the  bank 
wound  up  its  busi- 
ness and  ceased  to 
act.  The  Federal- 
ists were  all  strong 
advocates  of  the 
bank,  and  it  was  so 
strong  that  it  di- 
vided some  of  the 
Democrats  who  enjoyed  a  loose  rein  in  the  contest 
so  far  as  the  administration  was  concerned,  the  Presi- 
dent not  caring  for  political  quarrels  at  a  time  when 
war  was  threatened  with  a  powerful  foreign  nation. 
The  views  of  the  Federalists  on  this  question  de- 
scended to  the  Whigs  some  years  later,  and  this  fact 


HENRY 


72  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

led  to  the  charges  that  the  Whigs  were  but  Federal- 
ists in  disguise. 

The  next  Congress  continued  the  large  Demo- 
cratic majority,  which  promptly  carried  every  admin- 
istration measure,  as  did  the  following,  which  met 
November  4,  1811,  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  then 
an  ardent  supporter  of  the  policy  of  Madison,  suc- 
ceeding to  the  House  speakership.  He  had  pre- 
viously served  two  short  sessions  in  the  Senate,  and 
had  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  an  able  debater. 
He  preferred  the  House  at  that  period  of  life,  be- 
lieving his  powers  better  calculated  to  win  fame  in 
the  more  popular  representative  hall. 

On  the  quiet  understanding  that  Madison  would 
adopt  a  war  policy,  he  was  renominated  for  a  second 
term.  John  Langdon  was  nominated  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  but  as  he  declined  on  account  of  age,  Elbridge 
Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  took  his  place.  A  convention 
of  the  opposition,  representing  eleven  States,  was 
held  in  New  York  City,  which  nominated  De  Witt 
Clinton,  with  Jared  Ingersoll,  of  Pennsylvania,  for 
Vice-President.  This  was  the  first  National  Con- 
vention, partisan  in'  character,  and  the  Federalists 
have  the  credit  of  originating  and  carrying  out  the 
idea.  The  election  resulted  in  the  success  of  Mad- 
ison, who  received  128  electoral  votes  to  89  for 
Clinton.  De  Witt  Clinton  was  a  nephew  of  George 
Clinton,  Governor  of  New  York  State,  and  fourth 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

Though  factious  strife  had  been  somewhat  rife, 
less  attention  was  paid  to  politics  than  to  the  ap- 
proaching war.  There  were  new  Democratic  leaders 


JAMES  MADfSON.  73 

in  the  lower  House,  and  none  were  more  prominent 
than  Clay  of  Kentucky,    and  Calhoun,  Cheves,  and 


DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


Lowndes,  all  of  South  Carolina.  The  policy  of 
Jefferson  in  reducing  the  army  and  navy  was  now 
greatly  deplored,  and  the  defenceless  condition  in 


74  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

which  it  left  the  country  was  the  stated  cause  of  the 
feuds  which  followed.  Madison  changed  this  policy 
at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  Clay,  Calhoun,  and 
Lowndes,  who  were  the  recognized  leaders  of  the 
war  party.  He  had  held  back,  hoping  that  diplo- 
macy might  avert  a  contest;  but  when  once  con- 
vinced that  war  was  inevitable  and  even  desirable 
under  the  circumstances,  his  official  utterances  were 
bold  and  free.  He  declared  in  a  message  that  our 
flag  was  continually  insulted  on  the  high  seas ;  that 
the  right  of  searching  American  vessels  for  British 
seamen  was  still  in  practice,  and  that  thousands  of 
American  citizens  had  in  this  way  been  impressed 
into  service  on  foreign  ships ;  that  peaceful  efforts  at 
adjustment  of  the  difficulties  had  proved  abortive, 
and  that  the  British  ministry  and  British  emissaries 
had  actually  been  intriguing  for  the  dismemberment 
of  the  Union. 

The  Act  declaring  war  was  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent on  June  18,  1812,  and  is  remarkably  short  and 
comprehensive.  It  was  drawn  by  William  Pinckney, 
and  was  a  soul-stirring  message,  but  it  did  not  rally 
all  the  people  as  it  should  have  done.  Political 
jealousies  were  very  great,  and  the  frequent  defeats 
of  the  Federalists,  while  they  tended  to  greatly  re- 
duce their  numbers  and  weaken  their  power,  seemed 
to  strengthen  their  animosity,  and  they  could  see 
nothing  good  in  any  act  of  the  administration. 

Four  Federalist  representatives  in  Congress  went 
so  far  as  to  issue  an  address  opposing  the  war,  the 
way  in  which  it  had  been  declared,  and  denouncing 
it  as  unjust.  Some  of  the  New  England  States  re- 


JAMES  MADISON.  75 

fused  to  support  it  with  their  militia,  and  Massachu- 
setts sent  peace  memorials  to  Congress. 

A  peace  party  was  formed  with  a  view  to  array 
the  religious  sentiment  of  the  country  against  the 
war,  and  societies  with  similar  objects  were  organized 
by  the  more  radical  of  the  Federalists. 

This  opposition  culminated  in  the  assembling  of 
a  convention  at  Hartford,  at  which  delegates  were 
present  from  all  the  New  England  States.  They 
sat  for  three  weeks  with  closed  doors,  and  issued  an 
address.  It  was  charged  by  the  Democrats  that  the 
real  object  of  the  convention  was  to  negotiate  a  sep- 
arate treaty  of  peace,  on  behalf  of  New  England, 
with  Great  Britain,  but  this  charge  was  as  warmly 
denied.  The  exact  truth  has  never  been  discovered, 
the  fears  of  the  participants  of  threatened  trials  for 
treason  closing  their  mouths,  if  their  professions 
were  false.  The  treaty  cf  Ghent,  which  was  con- 
cluded on  December  14,  1814,  prevented  other  action 
by  the  Hartford  Convention. 

When  we  plunged  into  the  1X12  War  with  Great 
Britain,  our  navy  consisted  of  bu'.  twelve  vessels  and 
our  army  was  an  undisciplined  body,  officered  by 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  too  old  to  be  efficient.  On 
the  sea  we  whipped  her  all  around.  Out  of  the  17 
fights  which  occurred  during  the  two  years  the  war 
lasted,  we  won  thirteen.  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship!" 
was  the  battle-cry  of  the  American  sailor. 

On  the  land  we  did  not  fare  so  well.  We  made 
several  attempts  on  Canada,  but  they  all  failed. 

England  sent  over  4000  men,  who  took  Washington 


76  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

and  buined  the  town  with  all  its  public  buildings. 
This  act  of  shame  was  done  under  strict  orders  from 
home.  It  was  intended  to  fill  us  with  dread  of  what 
might  be  expected.  A  second  force  was  sent  to  New 
Orleans,  where  General  Jackson  routed  them  with  a 
loss  of  half  its  men.  This  ended  the  war.  Peace 
was  made  in  1815. 

In  February,  1815,  the  welcome  and  unexpected 
news  of  Peace  reached  Congress,  which  adjourned 
March  15,  1815,  after  repealing  the  Acts  which  had 
been  necessary  in  preparing  for  and  carrying  on  the 
war.  This  peace  marks  the  final  extinction  of  the 
Federalist  party. 

The  position  of  New  England  in  the  war  is  ex- 
plained by  her  exposed  position.  Such  of  the  militia 
as  served,  endured  great  hardships,  and  they  were 
constantly  called  from  their  homes  to  meet  new  dan- 
gers. The  coast  towns  of  Massachusetts  were  sub- 
jected to  constant  assault  from  the  British  navy,  and 
the  people  felt  that  they  were  defenceless.  It  was 
on  their  petition  that  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts 
finally,  by  a  vote  of  226  to  67,  adopted  the  report 
favoring  the  calling  of  the  Hartford  Convention. 
These  delegates  were  all  members  of  the  Federal 
party,  and  their  suspected  designs  and  action  made 
the  u  Hartford  Convention"  a  by  word  and  reproach 
in  the  mouths  of  Democratic  orators  for  years  there- 
after. It  gave  to  the  Democrats,  as  did  the  entire 
history  of  the  war,  the  prestige  of  superior  patriotism, 
and  they  profited  by  it  as  long  as  the  memory  of  the 
War  of  1812  was  fresh.  Indeed,  directly  after  the 
war,  all  men  seemed  to  keep  in  constant  view  the 
reluctance  of  the  Federalists  to  support  the  war,  and 


JAMES  MADISON.  77 

their  almost  open  hostility  to  it  in  New  England. 
Peace  brought  prosperity  and  plenty,  but  not  obliv- 


H.   CRAWFORD. 

ion  of  the  old  political  issues,  and  this  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  the  Federal  party.  Its  decay 
thereafter  was  rapid  and  constant. 


78  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  next  four  Congresses  continued  Democratic. 
Clay  had  taken  part  in  negotiating  the  treaty,  and 
on  his  return  was  for  the  third  time  elected  Speaker. 
Though  65  Federalists  had  been  elected,  but  10  votes 
were  given  to  Federal  candidates  for  Speaker,  this 
party  now  showing  a  strong,  and  under  the  circum- 
stances, a  very  natural  desire  to  rub  out  party  lines. 
The  internal  taxes  and  the  postage  rates  were  reduced. 

Louisiana  was  admitted  to  the  Union  on  April  3, 
1812;  and  Indiana  came  in  on  December  u,  1816. 

President  Madison,  in  his  message  to  Congress, 
urged  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  and  acting  on  his 
recommendation  what  was  at  the  time  called  a  pro- 
tective tariff  was  passed.  Calhoun  then  supported 
it,  while  Clay  proclaimed  that  protection  must  no 
longer  be  secondary  to  revenue,  but  of  primary  im- 
portance. The  rates  fixed,  however,  were  insuf- 
ficient, and  our  manufacturers  were  soon  crowded  out 
by  excessive  importations  of  foreign  goods. 

Peace  brought  with  it  another  exchange  of  posi- 
tions. President  Madison,  although  he  had  vetoed  a 
bill  to  establish  a  National  Bank  in  1815,  was  now 
(in  1816)  anxious  for  the  establishment  of  such  an 
institution.  Clay  had  also  changed  his  views,  and 
claimed  that  the  experiences  of  the  war  showed  the 
necessity  for  a  national  currency.  The  bill  met  with 
strong  opposition  from  a  few  Democrats  and  nearly 
all  of  the  Federalists,  but  it  passed  and  was  signed  by 
the  President. 

A  bill  to  promote  internal  improvements,  advo- 
cated by  Clay,  was  at  first  favored  by  Madison,  but 


JAMES  MONROE.  yg 

his  mind  changed  and  he  vetoed  the  measure — the 
first  of  its  kind  passed  by  Congress. 

When  the  Democrats  held  their  caucus  for  the 
nomination  of  candidates  to  succeed  Madison  and 
Gerry,  it  was  understood  that  the  retiring  officers  and 
their  confidential  friends  favored  James  Monroe,  of 
Virginia.  Their  wishes  were  carried  out,  but  not 
without  a  struggle,  Wm.  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia 
receiving  54  votes  against  65  for  Monroe.  The 
Democrats,  opposed  to  Virginia's  domination  in  the 
politics  of  the  country,  directed  the  effort  against 
Monroe.  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  of  New  York  was 
nominated  by  the  Democrats  for  Vice-President.  The 
Federalists  named  Rufus  King  of  New  York,  but  in 
the  election  which  followed  he  received  but  24  out 
of  2 1 7  electoral  votes.  The  Federalists  divided  their 
votes  for  Vice-President. 

Madison  retired  from  public  life  on  March  4,  1817, 
and  went  home  to  his  farm,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  at  Montpelier,  Vir- 
ginia, on  June  28,  1836,  aged  85  years. 


JAMES  MONROE— 1817-1825. 

JAMKS  MONROE,  the  fifth  President,  was  born  in 
Virginia,  April  28,  1758.  His  earliest  American 
ancestor  was  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Charles  I,  who 
emigrated  to  Virginia  in  1652.  It  was  a  significant 
fact  that  the  persecutions  of  the  Non-Conformists 
peopled  New  England  with  the  Pilgrims  and  Puri- 
tans :  while  the  establishment  of  the  Commonwealth 


8o  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

under  Cromwell  drove  the  Cavaliers  to  Virginia;  and 
to  their  united  and  harmonious  efforts  we  owe  the 
establishment  of  our  Republic. 


JAMES   MONROE. 


During  the  Revolutionary  War,  Monroe  served  for 
some  time  in  the  army,  which  he  quitted  after  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  in  1778,  rejoining  it  when  his 


JAMES  MONROE.  8l 

own  State  was  invaded  in  1781.  He  studied  law 
under  Jefferson,  and  when  he  was  but  25  years  old 
was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
He  represented  us  at  Paris,  and  became  Governor  of 
his  State  when  he  returned  to  America.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son sent  him  in  1802  as  Envoy  to  France  to  nego- 
tiate for  a  right  of  depot  on  the  Mississippi.  But  he 
attempted  a  far  more  important  measure,  for  within 
fourteen  days  from  his  arrival  in  Paris,  he  had  pur- 
chased the  entire  territory  of  Louisiana,  the  most 
important  and  diplomatic  act  in  the  history  of  this 
Republic. 

He  was  inaugurated  on  March  4,  1817.  His  cabi- 
net was  composed  of  men  of  rare  political  distinction, 
even  in  that  day  of  great  men  ;  yet  tliese  men  were 
universally  accepted  as  great  without  regard  to  their 
localities.  Among  them  were  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Secretary  of  State;  William  H.  Crawford,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury;  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War; 
Benjamin  Crowninshield,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  and 
William  Wirt,  Attorney-General.  All  were  avowed 
Democrats,  except  Adams,  and  he  had  for  some  years 
forsaken  the  Federalists.  Monroe,  on  his  first  em- 
bassy to  Paris,  was  so  strongly  attached  to  the  princi- 
ples of  the  French  Revolution  that  he  was  thought 
to  have  neglected  the  interests  of  the  Government, 
and  was  recalled  by  Washington.  On  his  second 
mission  to  Paris,  in  1802-3,  he  conducted,  with  Liv- 
ingston, the  negotiations  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana; 
and  when  in  London,  in  1806,  he  concluded,  with 
William  Pinckney,  that  treaty  concerning  .the  dis- 
puted matters  between  England  and  America  which 
Jefferson  refused  to  allow. 


82 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


judgment,  of  cautious  and  prudent  views,  and  of 
untiring  perseverance  in  the  conduct  of  business; 
but  in  original  genius  he  was  inferior  to  his  prede- 


JOHN 


CAI,HOUN. 


cessors.  In  character,  his  amiability  was  equal  to 
that  of  Madison.  He  was  universally  respected,  and 
his  inaugural  address  was  considered  satisfactory  by 
most  sections  of  the  country.  Shortly  after  his 


JAMES  MONROE.  83 

accession,  he  made  a  three  months'  tour  through  a 
large  part  of  the  Union,  passing  from  Maine,  in  the 
east,  to  Detroit,  in  the  west.  Jefferson  disapproved 
of  these  progresses,  as  having  too  monarchical  a 
character;  but  Washington  had  in  practice  given 
them  his  sanction. 

Monroe  found  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the 
country  in  a  very  embarrassed  state,  owing  to  the 
competition  of  British  goods,  which,  by  reason  of  the 
great  improvement  of  machinery,  in  England,  could 
be  much  more  cheaply  produced  there  than  here,  and 
which,  but  for  the  duties  it  was  considered  necessary 
to  impose  on  them,  would  probably  have  extinguished 
the  native  manufactures  altogether,,  The  industrial 
arts,  in  which  we  now  hold  so  conspicuous  a  place, 
were  in  a  very  rude  condition  in  1817.  During  the 
colonial  days  of  English-America,  all  manufactures 
there  were  not  merely  discountenanced,  but  actually 
forbidden,  by  the  British  Parliament.  The  working 
of  iron  promised  at  one  time  to  be  a  great  source  of 
profit  to  the  New  Englanders;  but  it  was  prohibited 
by  the  Imperial  Government.  So  also  with  regard 
to  so  slight  a  matter  as  the  manufacture  of  hats: 
everything  which  could  interfere  with  English  traders 
was  suppressed.  Shortly  after  our  Independence, 
attempts  were  made  to  establish  manufactories  of 
various  textile  fabrics;  but,  owing  to  the  dearness  of 
labor,  the  want  of  capital,  and  the  absence  of  ma- 
chinery, very  little  was  effected.  The  imposition  of 
the  embargo  at  the  close  of  1807  was  the  first  circum- 
stance which  gave  a  decided  encouragement  to  our 
manufacturers.  The  people  were  compelled  to  fall 
back  upon  their  own  resources,  and,  notwithstanding 


84  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

a  few  failures  at  the  beginning,  considerable  progress 
was  made  in  a  surprisingly  short  time.  The  value 
of  native  manufactured  goods,  as  early  as  1810,  was 
$170,000,000;  in  1814,  it  was  probably  $200,000,000. 
'The  exclusion  of  foreign  commodities  during  the 
war  had  the  natural  effect  of  enhancing  the  price  of 
those  which  were  produced  at  home;  and  our  manu- 
facturers were  beginning  to  drive  a  good  trade,  when 
the  restoration  of  peace  interfered  with  their  pros- 
pects. The  country  was  inundated  with  British  and 
other  European  productions;  and  for  some  while, 
until  legislation  of  a  protectionist  character  came  to 
the  assistance  of  the  native  manufacturer,  all  indus- 
tries of  this  kind  sank  considerably.  From  1818, 
however,  they  revived,  and  thenceforward  entered 
on  a  stage  of  progressive  development. 

While  manufactures  suffered,  agriculture  enjoyed 
a  period  of  great  prosperity.  The  number  of  persons 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  the  year  1820  was 
2,070,646;  and  the  value  of  all  American  products 
(including  cotton,  tobacco,  flour  and  rice),  exported 
during  the  year  1823,  was  $37,646,000,  The  vast 
provinces  of  the  West  were  being  colonized  by  fami- 
lies from  the  Eastern  States,  and  by  emigrants  from 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  who,  arriving  in  large 
numbers  every  year,  added  materially  to  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Republic,  and  widened  the  area  of  culti- 
vated land.  Within  ten  years  of  the  peace — which 
brings  us  to  about  the  close  of  Monroe's  Administra- 
tion— five  new  States  had  grown  up  in  those  wild 
domains  which  had  only  recently  been  hunting- 
grounds  for  the  red  man.  England  had  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years  contributed  scarcely  anything 


JAMES  MONROE.  85 

to  the  peopling  of  America.  As  America  wanted 
what  England  had  in  excess,  we  were  immense 
gainers  by  these  large  immigrations,  and  thencefor- 
ward made  progress  with  amazing  rapidity.  In  De- 
cember, 1817,  the  Mississippi  Territory  was  divided, 
and  the  western  portion  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
the  State  of  Mississippi,  while  the  eastern  remained 
for  a  short  time  longer  as  a  dependent  province, 
under  the  title  of  the  Alabama  Territory.  The  latter 
included  a  portion  of  Georgia,  which  was  given  up 
for  a  consideration. 

Monroe's  first  inaugural  leaned  toward  Clay's 
scheme  of  internal  improvements,  but  questioned  its 
constitutionality.  Clay  was  next  to  Jefferson  the 
most  original  of  all  our  statesmen  and  politicians. 
He  was  prolific  in  measures,  and  almost  resistless  in 
their  advocacy.  From  a  political  standpoint  he  was 
the  most  direct  author  of  the  War  of  1812,  for  his 
advocacy  mainly  brought  it  to  the  issue  of  arms, 
which,  through  him  and  Calhoun,  were  substituted 
for  diplomacy.  Calhoun  then  stood  in  broader  view 
before  the  country  than  since.  His  sectional  pride 
and  bias  had  been  rarely  aroused,  and,  like  Clay,  he 
seemed  to  act  for  the  country  as  an  entirety. 

From  an  early  period  in  the  century,  the  Spanish 
colonies  in  the  South  had  been  engaged  in  insurrec- 
tionary wars  against  the  mother  coimtry,  and  some 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  their  independence. 
It  was  the  obvious  policy  of  our  Government  to  en- 
courage these  young  Republics,  and  thus  destroy  the 
influence  of  Spain.  Monroe  very  emphatically 
asserted  the  dogma  that  the  monarchical  form  of 
government  ought  not  to  exist  on  this  Continent — a 


86  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

political  principle  which  under  the  designation  of  the 
"  Monroe  Doctrine,"  has  been  widely  received  from 
that  time  to  the  present.  In  his  Message  in  1823, 
he  asserted  the  "Monroe  Doctrine"  in  these  terms: 
"  We  owe  it  to  candor  and  to  the  amicable  relations 
between  the  United  States  and  the  European  Powers 
to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on 
their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of 
this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety." 

In  1817  the  Seminole  Indians,  joined  by  a  few  of 
the  Creeks,  and  by  some  runaway  negroes,  began  to 
commit-  depredations  on  the  frontiers  of  Georgia  and 
Alabama.  General  Gaines  was  despatched  to  sup- 
press these  risings,  and  to  remove  every  Indian  from 
the  territory  which  the  Creeks  had  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  He  was  overmatched  in  numbers, 
and  General  Jackson  was  sent  to  his  aid.  This  vigor- 
ous officer  raised  a  large  force  of  Tennessee  horse- 
men, in  addition  to  the  regular  army,  and  marched 
into  the  Indian  territory,  which  he  speedily  overran. 

In  1819,  a  treaty  was  made  by  which  Spain  ceded 
us  both  East  and  West  Florida,  together  with  the 
adjacent  islands.'  Florida  was  erected  into  a  Terri- 
tory in  February,  1821,  and  in  the  following  month 
General  Jackson  was  appointed  its  first  governor. 

The  recognition  of  the  Spanish-American  Repub- 
lics by  the  United  States  followed.  In  1819,  the 
southern  portion  of  Missouri  was  formed  into  a  Ter- 
ritorial Government  under  the  name  of  Arkansas  ; 
and  in  December  of  the  same  year  Alabama  was 
admitted  into  the  Union.  Early  in  1820,  Maine, 
which  had  for  nearly  200  years  been  a  portion  of 


OSCEO^A,   CHIEF  OF  THE 


88  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Massachusetts,  was  severed  from  that  State  and  suf- 
fered to  enjoy  a  distinct  existence  as  a  State  of  our 
Union.  Maine  had  originally  been  settled  by  the 


INDIAN   WARRIORS. 


French,  and  was  long  aground  of  contention  between 
that  nation  and  the  English.  The  Colonial  Govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  forcibly  assumed  jurisdiction 
about  1652,  and  in  1677  purchased  the  whole  prov- 


JAMES  MONROE.  89 

ince.  The  people  of  Maine,  however,  though  as  well 
disposed  towards  the  Republican  cause  during  the 
War  of  Independence  as  any  other  part  of  the  Fed- 
eration, did  not  approve  of  their  connection  with 
the  State  which  had  its  capital  at  Boston.  They 
desired  to  follow  their  own  ways,  and  from  1820 
downwards  they  have  enjoyed  that  wish. 

Missouri  applied  for  admission  to  the  Union,  and 
this  demand  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  violent 
debate  in  Congress,  on  the  vexed  question  of  slavery. 
A  Bill  was  introduced  into  Congress,  containing  a 
provision  which  forbade  the  existence  of  slavery  in 
Missouri,  when  that  Territory  should  be  constituted 
as  a  State.  The  subject  was  fiercely  argued  during 
the  whole  session;  the  country  caught  the  excite- 
ment, and  the  usual  cry  of  disruption  was  raised. 
When  Secession  at  last  came,  in  1861,  it  was  no  new 
idea:  it  had  been  threatened  again  and  again — now 
by  the  North-east,  and  now  by  the  South,  according 
as  the  objects  of  either  seemed  imperilled.  The  divi- 
sion between  these  two  great  sections  was  strongly 
marked — in  soil,  in  climate,  in  political  institutions, 
in  social  customs,  and  in  material  interests;  and  the 
battle  never  raged  more  hotly,  as  far  as  language  was 
concerned,  than  during  this  period.  The  North- 
eastern States,  which  had  put  an  end  to  negro  bond- 
age among  themselves,  were  strongly  opposed  to  any 
extension  of  the  detestable  system  into  States  about 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Union.  The  South  was  equally 
desirous  of  widening  the  area  of  African  servitude, 
in  order  that  in  the  Senate  there  might  be  a  majority 
of  States  pledged  to  support  the  custom,  together 
with  all  those  interests  which  were  bound  up  in  its 


g0  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

existence.  The  Missourians  themselves  were  in- 
clined to  go  with  the  South  ;  and,  having  refused  to 
adopt  a  clause  for  the  prohibition  of  slavery,  the 
Northern  States  obstructed  their  admission  into  the 
Union.  Thus  the  battle  hung  :  the  North  taking 
its  stand  upon  the  cruel  and  immoral  character  of 
slavery  ;  the  South  maintaining  that,  even  if  objec- 
tionable in  itself,  it  was  part  of  the  existing  order  of 
things,  and  could  not  be  suddenly  abolished,  or  even, 
curtailed,  without  serious  danger  to  the  whole  social 
fabric.  The  slave  trade  had  been  suppressed  for 
several  years  ;  but  slaves  were  bred  at  home,  and 
sold  by  one  State  to  another.  The  Southern  States 
in  this  way  produced  a  good  many  slaves,  and  found 
a  profit  in  disposing  of  them  to  other  parts  of  the 
country.  Missouri,  wishing  to  share  in  these  gains, 
violently  resisted  the  restriction  which  the  Northern 
members  of  Congress  desired  to  impose,  and  threat- 
ened in  1819  to  constitute  itself  a  sovereign  and 
entirely  independent  State,  if  not  admitted  to  the 
Union  on  its  own  terms.  The  question  was  settled 
by  a  com  promise  on  February  28,  1821,  in  accordance 
with  which  slavery  was  to  be  tolerated  in  Missouri, 
but  prohibited  in  all  other  parts  of  the  Union  north 
and  west  of  the  northern  limits  of  Arkansas  ;  and 
upon  this  understanding  Missouri,  on  August  21, 
1820,  was  admitted  to  the  Union  as  its  twenty-fourth 
member.  Such  was  the  "Missouri  Compromise," 
which  will  appear  again  in  our  history,  as  a  source 
of  dispute  and  recrimination. 

This  parting  of  the. Federation  into  two  divisions, 
with  distinct  and  opposing  interests,  seemed  to  Jef- 
ferson a  danger  of  a  very  menacing  kind.  He  was 


JAMES  MONROE.  91 

not  an  admirer  of  slavery,  though  he  did  not  clearly 
see  his  way  to  getting  rid  of  it ;  and  he  was  too 
wise  and  patriotic  a  citizen  to  desire  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union  which  he  had  done  so  much  to  create. 
He  considered  the  proposed  action  of  Congress,  in 
imposing  regulations  on  the  several  States  with 
regard  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  as  grossly  uncon- 
stitutional. But  the  idea  of  a  line  of  geographical 
demarcation,  involving  a  different  system  of  politics 
and  morals,  he  feared  would  gather  force  with  time, 
reappear  again  and  again,  and  in  the  end  produce  so 
deadly  a  feeling  of  mutual  hate  that  separation 
would  become  preferable  to  eternal  discord.  His 
anticipations  were  disastrously  realized  forty-one 
years  later. 

The  year  1820  marked  a  period  of  financial  dis- 
tress in  the  country.  The  army  was  reduced,  and 
the  general  expenses  of  the  departments  cut  down, 
despite  which  measures  of  economy  the  Congress 
deemed  it  necessary  to  authorize  the  President  to 
contract  for  a  loan  of  $5,000,000.  Distress  was  the 
cry  of  the  day  ;  relief  the  general  demand.  The 
banks  failed,  money  vanished,  instalments  were  com- 
ing due  which  could  not  be  met,  and  Congress  was 
saluted  by  the  arrival  of  memorials  from  all  the  new 
States  praying  for  relief  to  the  purchaser  of  the 
public  lands.  The  President  referred  to  it  in  his 
Message  and  Congress  passed  a  measure  of  relief  by 
changing  the  system  to  cash  sales  instead  of  credit, 
reducing  the  price  of  the  lands,  and  allowing 
present  debtors  to  apply  payments  already  made  to 
portions  of  the  land  purchased,  relinquishing  the 
remainder.  Applications  were  made  at  that  time 


92  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

for  the  establishment  of  the  pre-emptive  system,  but 
without  effect ;  the  new  States  continued  to  press 
the  question  and  finally  prevailed,  so  that  now  the 
pre-emptive  principle  has  become  a  fixed  part  of  our 
land  system,  permanently  incorporated  with  it,  and 
to  the  equal  advantage  of  the  settler  and  the  Govern- 
ment 

During  the  discussion  of  the  Missouri  question, 
the  President  and  Vice-President  were  re-elected  for 
another  term  of  four  years.  The  second  election 
of  Monroe,  in  1820,  was  accomplished  without  a 
contest.  Out  of  231  electoral  votes,  but  one  was  cast 
against  him,  and  that  for  John  Quincy  Adams.  Mr. 
Tompkins,  the  candidate  for  Vice-President,  was 
only  a  little  less  fortunate,  there  being  14  scattering 
votes  against  him.  The  Federal  party  was  now 
nearly  extinct.  Although  it  still  counted  several 
members  capable  of  making  considerable  opposition 
in  Congress,  it  was  devoid  of  all  effective  organiza- 
tion, and  had  little  influence  in  the  country  generally. 
The  policy  of  Monroe  had  been  popular  ;  his  adminis- 
tration had  been  successful  ;  and  the  Democrats  had 
no  difficulty  in  carrying  him  again  into  power. 
Two  measures  of  his  government  were  particularly 
well  received  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
One  of  these  was  an  Act  for  making  provision  for 
the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolution 
— an  Act  which  was  subsequently  extended,  so  as  to 
include  the  widows  and  children  of  those  who  had 
already  departed  ;  the  second  was  an  arrangement, 
made  with  Great  Britain  in  October  of  the  same 
year,  by  which  we  were  allowed  to  share  with  Eng- 
lish subjects  in  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  It 


JAMES  MONROE.  93 

was  at  this  period  also  that  the  boundary  of  the 
United  States  towards  Canada,  from  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  was  defined. 

The  remaining  events  of  Monroe's  Presidency  are 
neither  numerous  nor  weighty. 

The  revision  of  the  tariff,  with  a  view  to  the  pro- 
tection of  home  industry,  and  to  the  establishment 
of  what  was  then  called  'kThe  American  System," 
was  one  of  the  large  subjects  before  Congress  at  the 
session  of  1823-24,  and  was  the  regular  commence- 
ment of  the  heated  debates  on  that  question  which 
afterwards  ripened  into  a  serious  difficulty  between 
the  Federal  Government  and  some  of  the  Southern 
States.  The  Presidential  election  being  then  de- 
pending, the  subject  became  tinctured  with  party 
politics.  The  protection  of  domestic  industry  not 
being  among  the  powers  granted,  was  looked  for  in 
the  incidental  ;  and  denied  by  the  strict  construction- 
ists  to  be  exercised  for  the  direct  purpose  of  pro- 
tection ;  but  admitted  by  all  at  that  time,  and  ever 
since  the  first  Tariff  Act  of  1789,  to  be  an  incident  to 
the  revenue-raising  power,  and  an  incident  to  be  re- 
garded in  the  exercise  of  that  power.  Revenue  the 
object,  protection  the  incident,  had -been  the  rule  in 
the  earlier  tariffs  ;  now  that  rule  was  sought  to  be 
reversed,  and  to  make  protection  the  object  of  the 
law,  and  revenue  the  incident.  Henry  Clay  was  the 
leader  in  the  proposed  revision  and  the  champion  of 
the  American  System  ;  he  was  supported  in  the 
House  by  many  able  and  effective  speakers,  who 
based  their  arguments  on  the  general  distress  then 
alleged  to  be  prevalent  in  the  country.  Daniel  Web- 
ster was  the  leading  speaker  on  the  other, side,  and 


94 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS, 


disputed  the  universality  of  the  distress  which  had 
been  described ;  and  contested  the  propriety  of  high 
or  prohibitory  duties,  in  the  present  active  and 
intelligent  state  of  the  world,  to  stimulate  industry 
and  manufacturing  enterprise. 

The  bill  was  carried  by  a  close  vote  in  both  Houses. 
Though  brought  forward  avowedly  for  the  protec- 
tion of  domestic  manufactures,  it  was  not  entirely 
supported  on  that  ground  ;  an  increase  of  revenue 
being  the  motive  with  some,  the  public  debt  then 
being  nearly  ninety  millions.  An  increased  pro- 
tection to  the  products  of  several  States,  as  lead  in 
Missiouri  and  Illinois,  hemp  in  Kentucky,  iron  in 
Pennsylvania,  wool  in  Ohio  and  New  York,  com- 
manded many  votes  for  the  bill  ;  and  the  im- 
pending Presidential  election  had  its  influence  in  its 
favor. 

Two  of  the  candidates,  Adams  and  Clay,  voted 
for  and  avowedly  supported  General  Jackson,  who 
voted  for  the  bill,  and  was  for  it  as  tending  to  give  a 
home  supply  of  the  articles  necessary  in  time  of  war, 
and  as  raising  revenue  to  pay  the  public  debt;  Craw- 
ford opposed  it,  and  Calhoun  had  withdrawn  as  a 
Presidential  candidate.  The  Southern  planting 
States  were  dissatisfied,  believing  that  the  new  bur- 
dens upon  imports,  which  it  imposed,  fell  upon  the 
producers  of  the  exports,  and  tended  to  enrich  one 
section  of  the  Union  at  the  expense  of  another. 
The  attack  and  support  of  the  bill  took  much  of  a 
sectional  aspect :  Virginia,  the  two  Carolinas, 
Georgia,  and  some  others,  being  against  it  ;  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky  being  for 
it.  Massachusetts,  which  up  to  this  time  had  no 


JAMES  MONROE.  95 

small  influence  in  commerce,  voted,  with  all  except 
one  member,  against  it.  With  this  sectional  aspect, 
a  tariff  for  protection  also  began  to  assume  a  politi- 
cal aspect,  being  taken  under  the  care  of  the  party 
afterwards  known  as  Whig.  The  bill  was  approved 
by  President  Monroe;  a  proof  that  that  careful  and 
strict  coustructionist  of  the  Constitution  did  not  con- 
sider it  as  deprived  of  its  revenue  character  by  the 
degree  of  protection  which  it  extended. 

Having  now  filled  the  Presidential  chair  for  nearly 
eight  years,  Monroe  determined  to  follow  the  patri- 
otic precedent  set  by  Washington  and  Jefferson  and 
Madison,  and  to  retire  from  any  further  candidature. 

In  the  election  of  1824  f°ur  candidates  were  before 
the  people  for  the  office  of  President — General  Jack- 
son, John  Quincy  Adams,  William  H.  Crawford  and 
Henry  Clay.  None  of  them  received  a  majority  of 
the  261  electoral  votes,  and  the  election  devolved 
upon  the  House  of  Representatives.  John  C.  Cal- 
houn  had  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes  for  the 
office  of  Vice-President,  and  was  elected.  Adams 
was  elected  President  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, who  voted  by  States,  from  the  three  candidates 
who  had  the  most  votes,  although  General  Jackson  was 
the  choice  of  the  people,  having  received  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  at  the  general  election.  The  elec- 
tion of  Adams  was  perfectly  constitutional,  and  as 
such  fully  submitted  to  by  the  people;  but  it  was  a 
violation  of  the  "voice  of  the  people"  principle; 
and  that  violation  was  equally  rebuked.  All  the 
representatives  who  voted  against  the  will  of  their 
constituents  lost  their  favor,  and  disappeared  from 
public  life.  The  representation  in  the  House  of 


96  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Representatives  was  largely  changed  at  the  next 
election,  and  presented  a  full  opposition  to  the  new 
President.  Mr.  Adams  himself  was  injured  by  it, 
and  at  the  ensuing  Presidential  election  was  beaten 
by  General  Jackson  more  than  two  to  one. 

Clay,  who  took  .the  lead  in  the  House  for  Mr. 
Adams,  and  afterwards  took  upon  himself  the  mis- 
sion of  reco'nciling  the  people  to  his  election  in  a 
series  of  public  speeches,  was  himself  crippled  in 
the  effort,  lost  his  place  in  the  Democratic  part^,  and 
joined  the  Whigs  (then  called  the  National  Repub- 
licans). The  Democratic  principle  was  victor  over 
the  theory  of  the  Constitution,  and  beneficial  results 
ensued.  It  vindicated  the  people  in  their  right  and 
their  power.  It  re-established  parties  upon  the  basis 
of  principle,  and  drew  anew  party  lines,  then  almost 
obliterated  under  the  fusion  of  parties  during  the 
"era  of  good  feeling,"  and  the  efforts  of  leading 
men  to  make  personal  parties  for  themselves.  It 
showed  the  conservative  power  of  our  Government 
to  lie  in  the  people,  more  than  in  its  constituted 
authorities.  It  showed  that  they  were  capable  of 
exercising  the  function  of  self-government,  and 
lastly,  it  assumed  the  supremacy  of  the  Democracy 
for  a  long  time.  The  Presidential  election  of  1824 
is  remarkable  under  another  aspect — its  results  cau- 
tioned all  public  men  against  future  attempts  to 
govern  Presidential  elections  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives; and  it  put  an  end  to  the  practice  of 
caucus  nominations  for  the  Presidency  by.  members 
of  Congress.  They  were  dropped,  and  a  different 
mode  adopted — that  of  party  nominations  by  con- 
ventions of  delegates  from  the  States. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  97 

In  the  spirit  of  pure  democracy,  Monroe,  in  re- 
tiring to  his  residence  in  Virginia,  accepted  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace.  He  finally  removed  to  the 
residence  of  his  son-in-law,  in  New  York  city,  where, 
at  the  age  of  73,  he  peacefully  breathed  his  last  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  nation,  being  the 
third  President  who  had  departed  on  that  memorable 
day.  He  is  buried  in  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  eight  years  of  his  Presidency  were  known  as 
the  era  of  good  feeling.  We  had  conquered  our 
enemies  by  land  and  sea,  at  home  and  abroad,  and  a 
long  and  glorious  period  of  peace  and  prosperity  had 
come  to  the  young  Republic.  In  the  beginning  of 
his  first  term,  he  visited  all  the  Eastern  and  Western 
States.  It  was  a  proper  tribute  to  pay  to  millions 
of  men  who  had  never  seen  their  favorite  chief;  and 
wherever  he  went  he  was  received  with  tokens  of 
affectionate  recognition.  The  sharp  and  angry  pas- 
sions of  other  days  were  allayed.  He  had  not  been 
elected  by  the  triumph  of  a  party — he  was  chosen 
to  lead  the  nation,  and  he  did  it  with  the  calmness, 
impartiality  and  integrity  of  a  great  and  good  man. 
Under  his  administration  the  whole  country  pros- 
pered. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS— 1825-1829. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  the  sixth  President,  son  of 
John  Adams,  the  second  President,  was  born  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, July  n,  1767.  Born  while  Faneuil  Hall 
was  ringing  with  the  fiery  eloquence  of  his  father, 
and  of  Samuel  Adams  his  relative,  he  breathed  from 
7 


98 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


his  infancy  the  atmosphere  of  patriotism  and  states- 
manship. In  his  eleventh  year  he  went  to  France 
with  his  father,  who  had  been  sent  as  Minister.  He 
went  to  Russia  as  private  secretary  to  Chief-Justice 
Dana,  then  the  American  Minister.  He  returned 
home,  entered  Harvard  College,  and  after  graduating 
studied  law  and  opened  an  office  for  its  practice  in 
Boston.  In  1794  Washington  appointed  him  Min- 
ister to  the  Hague.  Afterwards  he  was  elected  to 
the  Senate.  When  the  second  war  with  England 
was  approaching,  President  Madison  instructed  him 
to  leave  St.  Petersburg  and  join  the  other  commis- 
sioners sent  to  negotiate  the  Peace  Treaty  at  Ghent. 
On  Monroe's  accession  to  the  Presidency,  in  1817, 
he  became  his  Secretary  of  State,  which  office  he 
held  when  he  was  himself  elected  President. 

He  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1825.  He  called 
to  his  Cabinet  Henry  Clay  as  Secretary  of  State. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  Mr.  Adams  observed : 
"Since  the  period  of  our  Independence,  a  population 
of  four  millions  has  multiplied  to  twelve ;  a  territory 
bounded  by  the  Mississippi  has  been  extended  from 
sea  to  sea ;  and  States  have  been  admitted  to  the 
Union  in  numbers  nearly  equal  to  those  of  the  first 
Federation.  Treaties  of  peace,  amity,  and  commerce 
have  been  concluded  with  the  principal  dominions 
of  the  earth.  All  the  purposes  of  human  association 
have  been  accomplished  as  effectually  as  under  any 
other  Government  on  the  globe,  and  at  a  cost  little 
exceeding  in  a  whole  generation  the  expenditure  of 
other  nations  in  a  single  year."  The  great  parties 
of  Federalists  and  Democrats,  which  had  so  long 


JOHN  Q  UINC  Y  A  DAMS.  99 

divided  the  country  (by  a  conclusion  more  sanguine 
than  correct)  he  pronounced  to  be  extinct. 


JOHN   QUINCY    ADAMS. 


Adams   was   accused   of  having  made   a   corrupt 
bargain  with  Henry  Clay  to  defeat  the  selection  of 


I0o  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Andrew  Jackson  in  the  House  by  the  promise  of 
making  him  his  Secretary  of  State.  This  office  had 
come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  stepping-stone  to  the 
Presidency.  Credence  was  given  to  this  accusation 
when  Clay  received  his  appointment.  Clay  angrily 
denied  that  any  such  bargain  ever  was  entered  into. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  the  chief  topic  was  that 
of  internal  national  improvement  by  the  Federal 
Government.  This  declared  policy  of  the  adminis- 
tration furnished  a  ground  of  opposition  against 
Adams,  and  went  to  the  reconstruction  of  parties  on 
the  old  line  of  strict,  or  loose,  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  It  was  clear  from  the  beginning  that 
the  new  administration  was  to  have  a  settled  and 
strong  opposition,  and  that  founded  in  principles  of 
government.  Men  of  the  old  school,  survivors  of 
the  contest  of  the  Adams  and  Jefferson  times,  divided 
accordingly — the  Federalists  going  for  Adams,  the 
Republicans  against  him,  with  the  mass  of  the 
younger  generation.  The  Senate  by  a  decided  ma- 
jority, and  the  House  by  a  strong  minority,  were 
opposed  to  the  policy  of  the  new  President. 

A  bill  was  introduced  to  do  away  with  all  inter- 
mediate agencies  in  the  election  of  President  and 
Vice-President  and  give  the  election  to  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people.  But  the  amendments  did  not  re- 
ceive the  requisite  support  of  two-thirds  of  either  the 
Senate  or  the  House.  This  movement  was  not  of  a 
partisan  character ;  it  was  equally  supported  and  op- 
posed by  .Senators  and  Representatives  of  both 
parties.  Substantially  the  same  plan  was  recom- 
mended later  by  President  Jackson. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  IOi 

A  fruitless  attempt  was  now  made  to  limit  the 
President's  appointing  power  by  the  Democrats  try- 
ing to  pass  a  tenure  of  office  bill,  as  applicable  to 
Government  employees  and  office-holders ;  it  pro- 
vided, "that  in  all  nominations  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  Senate,  to  fill  vacancies  occasioned  by  an 
exercise  of  the  President's  power  to  remove  from 
office,  the  fact  of  the  removal  shall  be  stated  to  the 
Senate  at  the  same  time  that  the  nomination  is 
made,  with  a  statement  of  the  reasons  for  which 
such  officer  may  have  been  removed."  It  was  also 
sought  at  the  same  time  to  amend  the  Constitution 
to  prohibit  the  appointment  of  any  member  of  Con- 
gress to  any  Federal  office  of  trust  or  profit,  during 
the  period  for  which  he  was  elected;  the  design 
being  to  make  the  members  wholly  independent  of 
the  Executive,  and  not  subservient  to  the  latter,  and 
incapable  of  receiving  favors  in  the  form  of  bestowals 
of  official  patronage. 

The  tariff  of  1828  is  an  era  in  our  political 
legislation ;  from  it  the  doctrine  of  "  nullification  " 
originated,  and  from  that  date  began  a  serious  di- 
vision between  the  North  and  the  South.  This 
tariff  law  was  projected  in  the  interest  of  the  woolen 
manufacturers,  but  ended  by  including  all  manu- 
facturing interests.  The  passage  of  this  measure 
was  brought  about,  not  because  it  was  favored  by  a 
majority,  but  because  of  political  exigencies.  In  the 
coming  election,  Adams,  who  favored  the  "American 
System,"  supported  by  Clay  was  opposed  by  General 
Jackson.  This  tariff  was  made  an  administration 
measure,  and  became  an  isssue  in  the  canvass.  The 


102  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

New  England  States,  which  had  formerly  favored 
free  trade,  on  account  of  their  commercial  interests, 
changed  their  policy,  and,  led  "by  Webster,  became 
advocates  of  the  protective  system.  The  question  of 
protective  tariff  had  not  only  become  political,  but 
sectional.  The  Southern  States,  as  a  section,  were 
arrayed  against  the  system,  though  prior  to  1816  they 
favored  it.  In  fact  these  tariff  bills  had  become  a 
regular  feature  in  our  Presidential  elections,  starting 
in  1816  and  followed  up  in  1820-24  and  now  in  1828, 
with  successive  augmentations  of  duties;  the  last 
being  often  pushed  as  a  party  measure,  and  with  the 
visible  purpose  of  influencing  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion. General  Jackson  was  elected,  receiving  178 
electoral  votes  to  83  received  by  John  Quincy  Adams. 
John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina  was  elected 
as  Vice-President. 

Adams  retired  from  the  Presidency,  March  4,  1829. 
He  was  returned  to  Congress  by  the  district  in  which 
he  lived  and  continued  to  represent  it  for  nineteen 
years,  till  his  death.  He  died  of  paralysis  on  February 
23,  1848,  having  been  seized  two  days  previously 
while  attending  the  debates  of  Congress.  At  80  years 
of  age  he  was  called  "The  old  man  eloquent."  His 
mind  was  a  store-house  of  facts.  His  patriotism  and 
love  of  country  were  ardent.  He  lacked  tact  as  a 
politician,  and  did  not  understand  the  sentiments  and 
feelings  of  the  common  mind.  He  had  no  gift  for 
winning  friends,  his  cold  manners  and  his  disregard 
for  the  opinions  of  others  made  him  enemies  who 
succeeded  in  preventing  his  re-election. 

He  is  buried  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts. 


ANDRE  W  JA CKSON.  1 03 


ANDREW  JACKSON— 1829-1837. 

ANDREW  JACKSON,  our  sixth  President,  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  March  15,  1767.  He  was  the  son 
of  an  Irishman  who  emigrated  to  this  country  in 
1765,  and  died  poor  in  1767.  His  education  was  of 
the  most  limited  kind  and  he  showed  no  fondness 
for  books.  Had  his  parents  delayed  their  emigration 
much  longer,  he  would  have  lost  what  he  called 
"the  great  privilege  of  being  born  on  American 
soil.''  With  an  elder  brother,  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
he  joined  the  militia  after  the  terrible  massacre  by 
Tarletou,  and  became  a  prisoner  in  1781.  After  the 
war,  and  the  death  of  his  brother,  he  worked  hard 
to  support  his  mother,  who  had  been  left  utterly 
destitute.  Removing  to  Charleston,  he  studied  law, 
and  before  he  was  20  years  old  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  From  that  time  began  his  successful  career  as 
a  lawyer  in  Tennessee,  whither  he  had  emigrated. 
In  1796  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  where  he  served 
during  the  last  year  of  Washington's  second  term. 
He  gained  so  much  popularity  that  the  following 
year  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate.  He  left  the 
Senate  to  become  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Tennessee.  He  was  diverted  from  civil  pursuits  to 
the  army,  where  he  displayed  the  highest  abilities 
as  a  general,  both  in  organizing  and  conducting 
troops.  The  victory  at  New  Orleans  on  Janu- 
ary 8,  1815,  ending  in  the  entire  defeat  of  the 
British  army,  completed  Washington's  work  of 
freeing  this  country,  and  opened  the  way  to  the 
Presidency.  In  1829  ne  became  President,  and 
was  re-elected  to  continue  his  administration  till 


104  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

1837.  With  very  few  exceptions,  no  soldier  or  states- 
man has  won  the  admiration  of  his  country  by 
nobler  deeds,  or  established  a  fairer  claim  to  its  grat- 
itude for  his  patriotism  and  unspotted  integrity  in 
his  administration  of  public  affairs.  The  people 
believed  him  to  be  fearless  and  honest;  his  political 
opponents  declared  he  was  only  stupid  and  stubborn. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  he  acted  up  to  his  sense  of  duty, 
and  no  considerations  could  induce  him  to  de- 
sert it. 

He  was  inaugurated  on  March  4,  1829,  an^  called 
John  Van  Buren  of  New  York  to  his  Cabinet  as 
Secretary  of  State,  where  he  remained  only  two  years. 
He  had  many  changes  in  his  Cabinet.  It  was  Wil- 
liam L,.  Marcy,  a  Senator  from  New  York,  who  used 
the  celebrated  expression,  "To  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils,"  so  often  erroneously  attributed  to  Jackson. 
Jackson  believed  in  it,  and  acted  upon  it;  he  made 
more  removals  in  one  year  than  did  all  the  other 
Presidents  in  the  preceding  forty  years.  Early  in 
Monroe's  administration,  in  the  "era  of  good  feel- 
ing," Jackson  wrote  him  in  these  words:  "Now  is 
the  time  to  exterminate  that  monster,  called  party 
spirit.  By  selecting  [for  cabinet  officers]  characters 
most  conspicuous  for  their  probity,  virtue,  capacity, 
and  firmness,  without  regard  to  party,  you  will  go 
far  to,  if  not  entirely,  eradicate  those  feelings  which, 
on  former  occasions,  threw  so  many  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  government.  The  chief  magistrate  of  a  great 
and  powerful  nation  should  never  indulge  in  party 
feelings.  His  conduct  should  be  liberal  and  disin- 
terested; always  bearing  in  mind  that  he  acts  for 
the  whole  and  not  a  part  of  the  community."  With 


io6  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

new  times  and  new  men  the  above  good  advice  was 
forgotten,  or  possibly  had  to  be  ignored. 

The  election  of  Jackson  was  a  triumph  of  demo- 
cratic principle,  and  an  assertion  of  the  people's 
right  to  govern  themselves.  That  principle  had 
been  violated  in  the  Presidential  election  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  the  session  of  1824-25; 
and  the  sanction,  or  rebuke,  of  that  violation  was  a 
question  in  the  whole  canvass.  It  was  also  a  tri- 
umph over  the  high  protective  policy,  and  the 
Fedeial  internal  improvement  policy,  and  the  loose 
construction  of  the  Constitution;  and  of  the  Democ- 
racy over  the  Federalists,  then  called  National  Re- 
publicans; and  was  the  re-establishment  of  parties 
on  principle,  according  to  the  landmarks  of  the  early 
years  of  the  Government. 

The  short  session  of  1829-30  was  rendered  famous 
by  the  long  and  earnest  debates  in  the  Senate  on  the 
doctrine  of  nullification,  as  it  was  then  called.  It 
started  with  a  proposition  to  limit  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands  to  those  then  in  the  market,  and  to 
suspend  the  surveys  of  the  public  lands.  The  effect 
of  such  a  resolution,  if  carried  into  effect,  would 
have  been  to  check  emigration  to  the  new  States  in 
the  West,  and  to  check  the  growth  and  settlement 
of  these  States  and  Territories.  It  was  warmly  op- 
posed by  Western  members;  and  during  the  debate, 
Webster  referred  to  the  famous  ordinance  of  1787  for 
the  government  of  the  North-western  Territory,  and 
especially  the  anti-slavery  clause  which  it  contained. 

Kentucky  and  Ohio  were  instanced  as  examples, 
and  the  superior  improvement  and  population  of 
Ohio  were  attributed  to  its  exemption  from  the  evils 


ANDRE  W  JA  CKSON. 


107 


of  slavery  by  Webster.     This  was  an  excitable  sub- 
ject, aud  the  more  so  because  the  wounds  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


Missouri  controversy,  in  which  the  North  was  the 
undisputed  aggressor,  were  still  tender.  Mr.  Hayne 
from  South  Carolina,  representing  Calhoun,  the 


108  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS, 

Vice-President,  answered  with  warmth  and  resented 
as  a  reflection  upon  the  Slave  States  this  disadvan- 
tageous comparison.  This  brought  about  the  great 
debate,  which  is  given  in  the  school  readers,  and 
which  we  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  here  repeat. 

The  President  called  attention  to  the  expiration, 
in  1836,  of  the  charter  granted  to  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  He  doubted  the  constitutionality 
and  expediency  of  the  law  creating  the  bank,  and 
was  opposed  to  a  renewal  of  the  charter.  His  view 
of  the  matter  was  that,  if  such  an  institution  was 
deemed  a  necessity,  it  should  be  made  a  national 
one,  in  the  sense  of  being  founded  on  the  credit  of 
the  Government  and  its  revenues,  and  not  a  corpo- 
ration independent  from  and  not  a  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  House  of  Representatives  favored  the 
renewal  of  the  charter. 

Thus  was  the  "War  of  the  Bank  "  begun  in  Con- 
gress, and  in  the  public  press;  and  openly  at  the 
instance  of  the  bank  itself,  which  set  itself  up  as  a 
power,  and  struggled  for  continued  existence,  by  a 
demand  for  renewal  of  its  charter.  It  allied  itself 
to  the  political  power  opposed  to  the  President, 
joined  in  all  their  schemes  of  protective  tariff  and 
national  internal  improvement,  and  became  the  head 
of  the  American  system.  Its  moneyed  and  political 
power,  numerous  interested  affiliations,  and  control 
over  other  banks  and  fiscal  institutions,  was  great 
and  extensive,  and  a  power  which  was  exercised 
and  made  to  be  felt  during  the  struggle  to  such  a 
degree  that  it  threatened  a  danger  to  the  country 
and  the  Government  almost  amounting  to  a  national 
calamity. 


ANDRE  W  JA  CKSON.  1 09 

The  subject  of  renewal  of  the  charter  was  agitated 
at  every  succeeding  session  of  Congress  until  1836. 

In  December,  1831,  the  National  Republicans 
nominated  candidates.  Henry  Clay  was  the  candi- 
date for  the  office  of  President,  and  John  Sergeant 
for  that  of  Vice-President.  The  address  to  the 
people  presented  the  party  issues  which  were  to  be 
settled  at  the  ensuing  election,  the  chief  subjects 
being  the  tariff,  internal  improvement,  removal  of 
the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  the  renewal  of  the  United 
States  Bank  charter.  Thus  the  bank  question  was 
fully  presented  as  an  issue  in  the  election  by  that 
part  of  its  friends  who  classed  politically  against 
Jackson.  But  it  had  also  Democratic  friends  without 
whose  aid  the  re-charter  could  not  be  got  through 
Congress,  and  they  labored  assiduously  for  it. 

Bitter  was  the  contest  between  the  President  on 
the  one  side  and  the  bank  and  its  supporters  in  the 
Senate  on  the  other  side.  The  conduct  of  the  bank 
produced  distress  throughout  the  country,  and  was 
so  intended  to  coerce  the  President.  Distress  peti- 
tions flooded  Congress,  and  the  Senate  even  passed 
resolutions  of  censure  of  the  President.  The  latter, 
however,  held  firm  in  his  position.  Webster  was  a 
Federal  leader  on  both  occasions — against  the  char- 
ter in  1816;  for  the  re-charter  in  1832.  The  bill 
passed  the  Senate  after  a  long  contest;  and  passed 
the  House  with  little  or  no  contest  at  all. 

It  was  sent  to  the  President,  and  vetoed  by  him 
July  10,  1832;  the  veto  being  based  mainly  on  the 
unconstitutionality  of  the  measure.  The  veto  was 
sustained.  The  downfall  of  the  bank  speedily  fol- 
lowed; it  soon  afterwards  became  a  total  financial 


HO  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

wreck,  and  its  assets  and  property  were  seized  on 
executions.  With  its  financial  failure  it  vanished 
from  public  view,  and  public  interest  in  it,  and  con- 
cern with  it,  died  out. 

The  American  system,  and  especially  its  promi- 
nent feature  of  a  high  protective  tariff,  was  put  in 
issue,  in  the  Presidential  canvass  of  1832;  and  the 
friends  of  that  system  labored  diligently  in  Congress 
in  presenting  its  best  points  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage; and  staking  its  fate  upon  the  issue  of  the 
election.  It  was  lost;  not  only  by  the  result  of  the 
main  contest,  but  by  that  of  the  congressional  elec- 
tion which  took  place  simultaneously  with  it.  All 
the  States  dissatisfied  with  that  system  were  satisfied 
with  the  view  of  its  speedy  and  regular  extinction, 
under  the  legislation  of  the  approaching  session  of 
Congress,  excepting  only  South  Carolina.  She  held 
aloof  from  the  Presidential  contest,  and  cast  her  elec- 
toral vote  for  persons  who  were  not  candidates — 
doing  nothing  to  aid  Jackson's  election,  with  whom 
her  interests  were  apparently  identified.  On  No- 
vember 24,  1832,  two  weeks  after  the  election  which 
decided  the  fate  of  the  tariff,  that  State  issued  an 
"Ordinance  to  nullify  certain  acts  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  laying 
duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign 
commodities."  It  declared  that  Congress  had  ex- 
ceeded its  constitutional  powers  in  imposing  high 
and  excessive  duties  on  the  theory  of  "protection," 
had  unjustly  discriminated  in  favor  of  one  class  or 
employment,  at  the  expense  and  to  the  injury  and 
oppression  of  other  classes  and  individuals;  that  said 
laws  were  not  binding  on  the  State  and  its  citizens; 


ANDRE  W  JACKSON, 


III 


and  declared  its  right  and  purpose  to  enact  laws  to 
prevent  the  enforcement  and  arrest  the  operation  of 


DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


said  acts  within  the  limits  of  that  State  after  the 
first  day  of  February  following.  This  ordinance 
placed  the  State  in  the  attitude  of  forcible  resistance 


112  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  ordinance 
of  nullification  was  certified  by  the  Governor  of 
South  Carolina  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  reached  him  in  December.  The  President  im- 
mediately issued  a  proclamation,  exhorting  the 
people  of  South  Carolina  to  obey  the  laws  of  Con- 
gress; pointing  out  and  explaining  the  illegality  of 
the  procedure;  stating  clearly  and  distinctly  his  firm 
determination  to  enforce  the  laws  as  became  him  as 
Executive,  even  by  resort  to  force  if  necessary.  He 
declared  that  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
forms  a  government,  not  a  league;  and  whether  it 
be  formed  by  a  compact  between  the  States,  or  in 
any  other  manner,  its  character  is  the  same.  *  * 
*  *  To  say  that  any  State  may  at  pleasure  secede 
from  the  Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are 
not  a  nation;  because  it  would  be  a  solecism  to  con- 
tend that  any  part  of  a  nation  might  dissolve  its 
connection  with  the  other  parts,  to  their  injury  or 
ruin,  without  committing  any  offence." 

Bills  for  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  were  intro- 
duced, while  at  the  same  time  the  President,  though 
not  relaxing  his  efforts  towards  a  peaceful  settlement 
of  the  difficulty,  made  steady  preparations  for  en- 
forcing the  law.  The  result  of  the  bills  offered  in 
the  two  Houses  of  Congress  was  the  passage  of 
Clay's  "compromise"  bill  on  February  12,  1833, 
which  radically  changed  the  whole  tariff  system. 

The  President  recommended  the  revival  of  some 
Acts,  heretofore  in  force,  to  enable  him  to  execute 
the  laws  in  South  Carolina;  and  the  Senate  reported 
such  a  bill.  It  was  assailed  as  violent  and  unconsti- 
tutional, tending  to  civil  war,  and  denounced  as 


ANDRE  W  JACKSON.  \  13 

"  the  bloody  bill  "—the  "force  bill,"  etc.  Webster 
justified  the  bill,  both  for  the  equity  of  its  provi- 
sions, and  the  necessity  for  enacting  them.  He  said 
that  an  unlawful  combination  threatened  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union ;  that  the  crisis  is  called  for  a  mild, 
temperate,  forbearing,  but  inflexibly  firm  execution 
of  the  laws;  and  finally,  that  public  opinion  sets 
with  an  irresistible  force  in  favor  of  the  Union,  in 
favor  of  the  measures  recommended  by  the  President, 
and  against  the  new  doctrines  which  threatened  the 

o 

dissolution  of  the  Union.  He  supported  the  cause 
of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  country,  in  the  person 
of  a  President  to  whom  he  was  politically  opposed, 
whose  gratitude  and  admiration  he  earned  for  his 
patriotic  endeavors.  The  country,  without  distinc- 
tion of  party,  felt  the  same;  .and  the  universality 
of  the  feeling  was  one  of  the  grateful  instances 
of  popular  applause  and  justice  when  great  talents 
are  seen  exerting  themselves  for  the  good  of  the 
country.  He  was  the  colossal  figure  on  the  political 
stage  during  that  eventful  time;  and  his  labors, 
splendid  in  their  day,  survive  for  the  beuefit  of  dis- 
tant posterity. 

In  1834  a  measure  was  introduced  for  equalizing 
the  value  of  gold  and  silver,  and  legalizing  the  ten- 
der of  foreign  coin,  of  both  metals.  The  good  effects 
of  the  bill  were  immediately  seen.  Gold  began  to 
flow  into  the  country  through  all  the  channels  of 
commerce,  foreign  and  domestic;  the  mint  was  busy; 
and  specie  payment,  which  had  been  suspended  in 
the  country  for  thirty  years,  was  resumed,  and  gold 
and  silver  became  the  currency  of  the  land;  inspiring 
confidence  in  all  the  pursuits  of  industry. 


114  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  United 
States  really  began  about  this  time.  Congress  in 
1836  was  flooded  with  petitions  urging  Federal  in- 
terference to-abolish  slavery  in  the  States;  beginning 
with  the  petition  of  the  Society  of  Friends  of  Phila- 
delphia, urging  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

Arkansas  was  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union, 
June  15,  1836,  and  Michigan  followed  on  January 
26,  1837. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1836  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  the  Democratic  candidate.  Martin  Van 
Buren,  of  New  York,  was  elected  by  170  electoral 
votes;  his  opponent,  William  Henry  Harrison,  re- 
ceiving 73  electoral  votes.  Scattering  votes  were 
given  for  Webster  and  others.  President  Jackson 
delivered  his  last  annual  message,  under  circum- 
stances exceedingly  gratifying  to  him.  The  power- 
ful opposition  in  Congress  had  been  broken  down, 
and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  full  majorities 
of  ardent  and  tried  friends  in  each  House.  The 
country  was  in  peace  and  friendship  with  all  the 
world;  all  exciting  questions  quieted  at  home;  in- 
dustry in  all  its  branches  prosperous,  and  the  revenue 
abundant.  And  as  a  happy  sequence  of  this  state  of 
affairs,  the  Senate  on  March  16,  1837,  expunged 
from  their  Journal  the  resolution,  adopted  three 
years  previously,  censuring  the  President  for  order- 
ing the  removal  of  the  deposits  of  public  money  in 
the  United  States  Bank.  He  retired  from  the 
Presidency  with  high  honors,  and  died  eight  years 
afterwards  at  his  home,  the  celebrated  ' '  Hermitage, ' ' 
in  Tennessee,  in  full  possession  of  all  his  faculties, 


MARTIN  VAN  BUR  EN.  115 

and  strong  to  the  last  in  the  ruling  passion  of  his 
soul  to  sacrifice  everything  but  honor  to  the  glory  of 
his  native  land.  He  is  buried  in  Nashville,  Tenn. 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN— 1837-1841. 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  our  eighth  President,  was 
born  at  Kinderhook,  in  New  York,  December  5, 
1782.  All  former  Presidents  had  been  direct  de- 
scendants from  Britons,  and  they  had  been  born 
before  the  Revolution,  and  participated  in  its  events. 
Van  Buren's  ancestors  were  Hollanders. 

He  was  educated  at  the  academy  in  his  native 
village,  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
1803.  He  was  distinguished  neither  for  great  learn- 
ing nor  eloquence;  but  was  patient  in  study,  and 
rapid  in  acquisition.  He  was  ready  in  debate,  care- 
ful to  wariness  in  every  utterance  and  act;  sagacious 
as  a  politician,  and  genial  in  public  and  private  life; 
winning  friends  on  all  sides,  and  retaining  them  by 
his  loyalty.  He  took  an  active  part  in  politics  and 
was  elected  a  State  Senator  in  1812.  He  advocated 
the  second  war  against  England;  and  voted  for  the 
protective  tariff  of  1828. 

In  1815  he  became  Attorney-General  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  in  1828  was  elected  its  Governor. 
He  afterwards  served  in  the  Senate;  was  appointed 
Minister  to  England;  and  in  1832  was  elected  Vice- 
President  with  Jackson,  whose  successor  he  became. 


Il6  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Though  he  did  not  win  a  brilliant  reputation,  he 
retired  with  honor. 

He  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1837,  and  declared 
his  intention  u  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
illustrious  predecessor."  He  therefore  caught  the 
first  full  effects  of  the  storm  produced  by  his  prede- 
cessor's financial  policy,  from  which  even  Jackson's 
popularity  and  admitted  honesty  would  hardly  have 
saved  him. 

The  President  was  scarcely  settled  in  his  new 
office  when  a  financial  panic  struck  the  country  with 
irresistible  force.  A  general  suspension  of  the  banks, 
a  depreciated  currency,  and  insolvency  of  the  Federal 
Treasury  were  at  hand.  The  public  money  had  been 
placed  in  the  custody  of  the  local  banks,  and  the 
notes  of  all  these  banks,  and  of  all  others  in  the 
country,  were  received  in  payment  of  public  dues. 
On  May  10,  1837,  the  banks  throughout  the  country 
suspended  specie  payments.  The  stoppage  of  the 
deposit  banks  was  the  stoppage  of  the  Treasury. 
Non-payment  by  the  Government  was  an  excuse  for 
non-payment  by  others.  The  suspension  was  now 
complete;  and  it  was  evident,  and  as  good  as  ad- 
mitted by  those  who  had  made  it,  that  it  was  the 
effect  of  contrivance  on  the  part  of  politicians  and 
the  so-called  Bank  of  the  United  States  (which  had 
now  become  a  State  corporation  chartered  by  Penn- 
sylvania in  January,  1836)  for  the  purpose  of  restoring 
themselves  to  power.  The  promptitude  with  which 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  brought  forward 
as  a  remedy  for  the  distress  showed  that  it  had  been 
held  in  reserve  for  that  purpose;  and  the  delight  with 
which  the  Whig  party  saluted  the  general  calamity, 


MARTIN   VAN  BUR  EN. 


117 


showed  that  they  considered  it  their  own  passport 
to  power. 

Congress  met  in  September,  1837,  at  the  call  of 


MARTIN  VAN   BUREN. 


the  President,  whose  message  was  a  review  of  the 
events  and  causes  which  had  brought  about  the 
panic;  a  defence  of  the  policy  of  the  ''specie  cir- 


Il8  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

cular,"  and  a  recommendation  to  break  off  all  con- 
nection with  any  bank  of  issue  in  any  form,  looking 
to  the  establishment  of  an  Independent  Treasury, 
and  that  the  Government  provide  for  the  deficit  in 
the  Treasury  by  the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  and  by 
withholding  the  deposit  due  to  the  States  under  the 
Act  then  in  force.  The  message  and  its  recommen- 
dations were  violently  assailed  both  in  the  Senate  and 
House;  but  the  measures  proposed  by  the  Executive 
were  in  substance  enacted;  and  their  passage  marks 
an  era  in  our  financial  history — making  a  total  and 
complete  separation  of  Bank  and  State,  and  firmly 
establishing  the  principle  that  the  Government  reve- 
nues should  be  receivable  in  coin  only. 

The  next  Presidential  election  was  now  at  hand. 
The  same  candidates  who  fought  the  battle  of  1836 
were  again  in  the  field.  Van  Buren  was  the  Demo"- 
cratic  candidate.  His  administration  had  been  satis- 
factory to  his  party,  who  commended  his  nomination 
for  a  second  term  to  the  different  States  in  appointing 
their  delegates;  so  that  the  proceedings  of  the  con- 
vention which  nominated  him  were  entirely  harmo- 
nious and  formal  in  their  nature.  Richard  M. 
Johnson,  the  actual  Vice- President,  was  also  nomi- 
nated for  Vice- President. 

On  the  Whig  ticket,  William  Henry  Harrison  of 
Ohio  was  the  candidate  for  President,  and  John 
Tyler  of  Virginia  for  Vice-President.  The  leading 
statesmen  of  the  Whig  party  were  again  put  aside, 
to  make  way  for  a  military  man,  prompted  by  the 
example  in  the  nomination  of  General  Jackson,  the 
men  who  managed  Presidential  elections  believing 
that  military  renown  was  a  passport  to  popularity 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 


and  rendered  a  candidate  surer  of  election.  Avail- 
ability was  the  only  ability  asked  for.  Clay,  the  most 
prominent  Whig  in  the  country,  and  the  acknowl- 
edged head  of  the  party,  was  not  deemed  available; 
and  although  Clay  was  a  candidate  before  the  con- 
vention, the  proceedings  were  so  regulated  that  his 


THE  CAPITOI,  AT  ALBANY,    NEW  YORK. 

nomination  was  referred  to  a  committee,  ingeniously 
devised  and  directed  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
his  nomination  and  securing  that  of  General  Har- 
rison; and  of  producing  the  intended  result  without 
showing  the  design,  and  without  leaving  a  trace  be- 
hind to  show  what  was  done.  The  result  of  this 
secret  committee  balloting  was:  For  General  Scott, 


120  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

1 6  votes;  for  Mr.  Clay,  90  votes;  for  General  Harri- 
son, 148  votes.  As  the  law  of  tlie  convention  iin- 
pliedly  required  the  absorption  of  all  minorities,  the 
106  votes  were  swallowed  up  by  the  148  votes  and 
made  to  count  for  General  Harrison,  presenting  him 
as  the  unanimous  candidate  of  the  convention,  and 
the  defeated  candidates  and  all  their  friends  were 
bound  to  loyally  join  in  his  support.  And  in  this 
way  the  election  of  1840  was  effected. 

The  contest  before  the  people  was  a  long  and 
bitter  one — the  severest  ever  known  in  the  country 
up  to  that  time.  The  whole  Whig  party  and  the 
large  league  of  suspended  banks,  headed  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  making  its  last  struggle  for  a 
new  national  charter  in  the  effort  to  elect  a  President 
friendly  to  it,  were  arrayed  against  the  Democrats, 
whose  hard-money  policy  and  independent  treasury 
schemes,  met  with  little  favor  in  the  then  depressed 
condition  of  the  country.  Meetings  were  held  in 
every  State,  county,  and  town;  the  people  thor- 
oughly aroused,  and  every  argument  made  in  favor 
of  the  respective  candidates  and  parties,  which  could 
possibly  have  any  effect  upon  the  voters.  The  can- 
.vass  was  a  thorough  one,  and  the  election  was  carried 
for  the  Whig  candidates,  who  received  234  electoral 
votes  coining  from  19  States.  The  remaining  60 
electoral  votes  of  the  other  9  States,  were  given  to 
the  Democratic  candidate;  though  the  popular  vote 
was  not  so  unevenly  divided ;  the  actual  figures  being 
1,275,611  for  the  Whig  ticket,  against  1,135,761  for 
the  Democratic  ticket.  It  was  a  complete  rout  of 
the  Democratic  party,  but  without  the  moral  effect 
of  victory. 


MARTIN   VAN  BUREN. 


121 


In  this  campaign  the  Abolitionist,  or  Liberal  party, 
nominated  James  G.  Birney  of  New  York  and 
Francis  Lemoyne  of  Pennsylvania.  Their  platform 
favored  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  Territories,  the  inter-State  slave  trade, 


CITY 


,    NEW  YORK   CITY. 


and  a  general  opposition  to  slavery  to  the  full  extent 
of  constitutional  power.     They  polled  7,609  votes. 

As  a  business  man,  Van  Buren  had  no  superior. 
He  transacted  business  without  any  apparent  effort 
or  labor,  and  it  never  accumulated  on  his  hands.  In 


122  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  1844  Convention  he  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes,  but  owing  to  his  objection  to  the  annexation 


GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


of  Texas  and  the  adoption  of  the  two-thirds  rule, 
failed  of  a  nomination.  In  1848,  at  the  solicitation 
of  his  friends,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  run 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 


123 


when  there  was  no  hope  of  an  election.  This  error 
of  his  friends  defeated  all  future  chances  of  success. 
In  person  he  was  of  medium  size,  but  became  large 
in  his  old  age.  He  was  always  neat  in  dress,  and 
was  in  comfortable  circumstances.  On  retiring  from 
the  Presidency  he  returned  to  his  native  town,  where 
he  died  July  24,  1862. 


WIUJAM  HENRY  HARRISON— 1841  (31  days). 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON,  the  ninth  President, 
was  born  in  Virginia,  February  9,  1773.  He  was 
the  youngest  son  of  Governor  Benjamin  Harrison,  a 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  had 
the  advantages  of  education,  culture,  patriotic 
souvenirs  and  early  acquaintance  with  the  scenes 
of  frontier  life.  At  nineteen  he  joined  the  army 
and  served  in  the  campaigns  against  the  Western 
Indians.  His  command  of  Fort  Washington,  where 
Cincinnati  now  stands,  secured  for  him  in  1797  the 
secretaryship  of  the  territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio, 
of  which  he  was  three  years  later  chosen  Delegate 
to  Congress.  In  1801  on  the  division  of  the  Terri- 
tory, he  was  appointed  Governor  of  that  portion 
which  now  embraces  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
and  Wisconsin.  That  vast  tract  was  held  by 
Indians,  whose  ferocities  were  restrained  by  treaties 
till  they  were  inflamed  by  Tecumseh,  when  Harri- 
son advanced  victoriously  against  them  in  1811  at 
Tippecanoe. 

The   1812  War  with  England  now  came  on  and 


124 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


Tecumseh  entered  the  British  service  and   the  In- 
dians became  more  hostile  than  ever.     Perry's  vie- 


WILLIAM   HENRY   HARRISON. 


tory  on  Lake  Erie  enabled  Harrison  to  drive  the 
British  and  their  savage  allies  across  the  line  into 
Canada,  where  they  were  totally  routed,  covering 


JOHN  TYLER. 

the  victorious  general  with  a  glory  which  finally 
carried  him  to  the  Presidency.  After  years  of  civil 
service  he  was  elected,  in  1824,  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  Retiring  to  his  farm  on  the  Ohio  for  twelve 
years,  his  services  having  made  him  the  most  popu- 
lar citizen  of  the  Great  West,  he  was  nominated  to 
the  Presidency,  and  a  wave  of  popular  enthusiasm 
secured  his  triumph.  The  friends  of  Van  Buren 
attempted  to  cast  upon  his  rival  the  most  un-Ameri- 
can slurs.  They  accused  him  of  .living  in  a  log- 
cabin;  with  nothing  to  drink  but  hard  cider.  Bor- 
rowing these  emblems  from  their  enemies,  they  be- 
came the  watchword  of  the  Whigs,  and  everywhere 
log-cabins  sprang  up  as  if  by  magic,  and  hard  cider 
became  the  popular  drink.  Harrison  was  inaugu- 
rated March  4,  1841,  being  the  first  President  who 
was  not  a  Democrat,  since  Jackson's  installation  in 
1829.  To  his  Cabinet  he  called  some  of  the  most 
famous  men  of  the  party,  and  it  was  greeted  with 
inspiring  auguries.  He  was  the  oldest  of  our  Presi- 
dents, and  the  infirmities  of  age  led  to  physical  pros- 
tration under  the  pressure  of  the  new  situation,  and 
in  one  short  month  he  was  borne  to  his  grave, 
leaving  for  himself  a  cherished  memory  and  an 
honorable  fame.  He  died  April  4,  1841;  and  was 
buried  at  North  Bend,  Ohio. 


JOHN  TYLER— 1841-1845. 

JOHN  TYLER,  the  tenth  President,  reached  the 
Presidency  through  the  death  of  General  Harrison 
who  had  been  in  office  but  one  month.  This  was  the 


I26  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

first  time  in  the  history  of  our  Government  the  Vice- 
President  had  become  President  under  the  Constitu- 
tion. He  was  inaugurated  April  6,  1841;  and  his 
administration  was  crowded  with  extraordinary 
events. 

President  Tyler  was  born  in  Virginia,  March  29, 
1790.  His  father  was  Governor  of  Virginia  from 
1808  till  1811.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  fully 
prepared  to  enter  William  and  Mary  College,  from 
whence  he  graduated  in  1806.  He  served  in  the  Legis- 
lature for  several  years  till  1816,  when,  at  the  age  of 
26,  he  was  elected  to  Congress.  At  the  close  of  his 
second  term  he  was  elected  Governor  of  his  State, 
whence  he  was  advanced  to  the  Senate.  He  voted 
for  the  censure  on  Jackson's  conduct  in  Florida; 
opposed  the  U.  S.  Bank,  the  protective  policy,  and 
internal  improvements  by  the  National  Government; 
opposed  the  administration  of  Adams  and  the  Tariff 
Bill  of  1828;  sympathized  with  the  nullification 
measures  of  South  Carolina  and  was  the  only 
Senator  who  voted  against  the  Force  Bill  for  the 
repression  of  that  incipient  secession;  voted  for 
Clay's  Compromise  Bill,  and  his  resolutions  censur- 
ing Jackson  for  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  although 
he  believed  the  Bank  unconstitutional ;  was  regarded 
as  a  martyr  to  the  Whig  cause,  and  consequently 
supported  by  many  of  them  in  the  campaign  of  1836 
for  the  Vice-Presidency,  but  was  then  defeated.  He 
retained  Harrison's  Cabinet  in  office;  and  was  ex- 
pected to  approve  whatever  a  Whig  Congress  should 
do.  His  first  message  confirmed  this  expectation. 
Bills  were  reported  for  repealing  the  Independent 
Treasury,  for  chartering  a  bank,  for  distributing  the 


JOHN  TYLER. 


127 


proceeds  of  land-sales,  and  an  insolvent  law,  under 
the  name  of  a  Bankrupt  Act,  and  all  were  passed 


JOHN  TYI^ER. 


by  Congress.     The  Bank  Act  was  alone  vetoed  by 
Tyler,  who  objected  to  some  of  its  provisions.     A 


I28  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

second  bill,  with  these  modified,  was  passed  ;  but  this 
was  also  vetoed.  This  created  a  breach  between  the 
President  and  the  Whigs  who  had  elected  him.  A 
third  bill  was  reported,  but  never  acted  upon. 

A  Tariff  Bill,  fixing  the  rate  of  duties  at  twenty  per 
cent,  and  regulating  the  free  list,  was  passed  and 
approved.  This  special  session  pleased  neither  party. 
The  Whigs  carried  three  measures ;  and  the  Demo- 
crats rejoiced  at  the  defeat  of  the  Bank  Bill.  Both 
parties  had  their  complaints.  At  the  very  next  ses- 
sion the  Bankrupt  Law  and  the  Distribution  Act 
were  repealed  by  the  Congress  that  enacted  them ; 
and  in  1846  the  Independent  Treasury  Act  was 
re-enacted,  and  still  remains,  subject  to  such  changes 
as  were  made  by  Secretary  Chass  in  1862. 

The  chief  measure  of  the  Whig  party — the  one  for 
which  it  had  labored  for  ten  years — was  the  recharter 
of  a  national  bank.  Without  this  all  other  measures 
would  be  deemed  to  be  incomplete,  and  the  victorious 
election  itself  but  little  better  than  a  defeat.  The 
President  had  been  opposed  to  the  Bank ;  and  to 
overcome  any  objections  he  might  have,  the  bill  was 
studiously  contrived  to  avoid  the  President's  objec- 
tions, and  save  his  consistency — a  point  upon  which 
he  was  exceedingly  sensitive.  The  Democratic  mem- 
bers resisted  strenuously,  in  order  to  make  the  meas- 
ure odious,  but  successful  resistance  was  impossible. 
It  passed  both  Houses  by  a  close  vote  ;  and  contrary 
to  all  expectation  the  President  vetoed  the  act,  falling 
back  upon  his  early  opinions  against  the  constitu- 
tionality of  a  national  bank,  so  often  and  so  publicly 
expressed. 


JOHN  TYLER.  1 39 

The  vote  was  taken  on  the  bill  over  again,  as 
required  by  the  Constitution,  and  it  received  only  a 
bare  majority,  and  was  returned  to  the  House  with  a 
message  stating  the  objection  to  it,  where  it  gave  rise 
to  some  violent  speaking,  more  directed  to  the  per- 
sonal conduct  of  the  President  than  to  the  objections 
to  the  bill  stated  in  his  message.  The  veto  was  sus- 
tained ;  and  so  ended  the  second  attempt  to  resuscitate 
the  Bank  under  a  new  name. 

The  conduct  of  the  President  in  the  vetoes  of  the 
two  bank  bills  produced  revolt  against  him  in  the 
party ;  and  the  Whigs  in  Congress  held  several  meet- 
ings to  consider  what  they  should  do  in  the  new  con- 
dition of  affairs.  The  rejection  of  the  bank  bill 
gave  great  vexation  to  one  side,  and  equal  exultation 
to  the  other.  The  subject  was  not  permitted  to  rest, 
however ;  a  national  bank  was  the  life — the  vital 
principle  of  the  Whig  party,  without  which  it  could 
not  live  as  a  party ;  it  was  the  lever  which  was  to 
give  them  power  and  the  political  and  financial  con- 
trol of  the  Union.  A  second  attempt  was  made,  four 
days  after  the  veto,  to  accomplish  the  end  by  amend- 
ments to  a  bill  relating  to  the  currency,  which  had 
been  introduced  early  in  the  session.  The  bill  was 
pushed  to  a  vote  with  astonishing  rapidity,  and 
passed  by  a  decided  majority.  Concurred  in  by  the 
Senate  without  alteration,  it  was  returned  to  the 
House,  and  thence  referred  to  the  President  for  his 
approval  or  disapproval.  It  was  disapproved  : 

:  The  Whig  party  recoiled   from   the    President, 
and  there  was  diversity  and  widespread   dissension. 
The  Whig  party  remained  with  Clay ;    Webster  re- 
9 


130 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


tired,  Gushing  was  sent  on  a  foreign  mission,  and 
the  President,  seeking  to  enter  the  Democratic  ranks, 
was  refused  by  them,  and  left  to  seek  consolation  in 
privacy  for  his  political  errors  and  omissions. 

The  extra  session,  called  by  Harrison,  held  under 
Tyler,  dominated  by  Clay,  commenced  May  3ist,  and 
ended  September  13,  1841 — and  was  replete  with  dis- 
appointed calculations,  and  nearly  barren  of  perma- 
nent results.  The  purposes  for  which  it  was  called 
into  being  failed. 

In  March,  1842,  Henry  Clay  resigned  his  place  in 
the  Senate.  He  had  intended  this  step  at  the  close 
of  the  previous  presidential  campaign,  but  postponed 
it  to  take  charge  of  the  measures  to  be  brought  before 
Congress  at  the  special  session — the  calling  of  which 
he  foresaw  would  be  necessary. 

Mr.  Clay  led  a  great  party,  and  for  a  long  time. 
It  was  surprising  that,  without  power  and  patronage, 
he  was  able  so  long  and  so  undividedly  to  keep  so 
great  a  party  together,  and  lead  it  so  unresistingly. 
He  had  great  talents,  but  not  equal  to  some  whom  he 
led.  He  had  eloquence  superior  in  popular  effect, 
but  not  equal  in  high  oratory  to  that  of  some  others. 
But  his  temperament  was  fervid,  his  will  was  strong, 
and  his  courage  daring ;  and  these  qualities,  added  to 
his  talents,  gave  him  the  lead  and  supremacy  in  his 
party,  where  he  was  always  dominant. 

Again  was  the  subject  of  the  tariff  considered,  but 
this  time,  as  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity,  to  provide 
a  revenue.  Never  before  were  the  coffers  and  the 
credit  of  the  Treasury  at  so  low  an  ebb.  A  deficit  of 
fourteen  millions  in  the  Treasury — a  total  inability 


JOHN  TYLER. 

to  borrow,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  the  amount  of 
the  loan  of  twelve  millions  authorized  the  year  before 
— the  Treasury  notes  below  par,  and  the  revenues 
from  imports  inadequate  and  decreasing. 

The  compromise  act  of  1833  in  reducing  the  duties 
gradually  through  nine  years,  to  a  fixed  low  rate ; 
the  act  of  1837  in  distributing  the  surplus  revenue ; 
and  the  continual  and  continued  distribution  of  the 
land  revenue,  had  brought  about  this  condition  of 
things.  The  remedy  was  sought  in  a  bill  increasing 
the  tariff,  and  suspending  the  land  revenue  distribu- 
tion. Two  such  bills  were  passed  in  a  single  month, 
and  both  vetoed  by  the  President.  The  bill  was 
finally  passed  raising  the  duties  above  twenty  per 
cent.,  and  approved  by  the  President. 

The  next  meeting  of  Congress  showed  serious  losses 
in  the  Whig  following.  A  Democratic  Speaker  of 
the  House  was  elected.  The  President's  message 
referred  to  the  treaty  lately  concluded  with  Great 
Britain  relative  to  the  north-western  territory  extend- 
ing to  the  Columbia  river,  including  Oregon  and 
settling  the  boundary  lines ;  and  also  to  a  treaty  with 
Texas  for  her  annexation;  and  recommending  the 
establishment  of  a  paper  currency  to  be  issued  and 
controlled  by  the  government. 

It  became  evident  to  leading  Democrats  that  Martin 
Van  Buren  was  the  choice  of  the  party.  To  overcome 
this  popular  current  and  turn  the  tide  in  favor  of 
Calhoun,  resort  was  had  to  the  pending  question  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas.  Van  Buren  was  known  to 
be  against  it,  and  Calhoun  for  it.  To  gain  time,  the 


132  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

meeting  of  the  convention  was  postponed,  and  when 
it  met,  consisted  of  266  delegates,  a  decided  majority 
of  whom  were  for  Van  Buren  and  cast  their  votes 
accordingly  on  the  first  ballot.  But  a  chairman  had 
been  selected  who  was  adverse  to  his  nomination; 
and  aided  by  a  rule  adopted  by  the  convention,  which 
required  a  concurrence  of  two-thirds  to  effect  a  nom- 
ination, the  opponents  of  Van  Bnren  were  able  to 
accomplish  his  defeat.  Calhoun  had  made  known 
his  determination  not  to  suffer  his  name  to  go  before 
that  assemblage  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency; 
his  reasons  for  so  doing  resting  on  the  manner  in 
which  the  convention  was  constituted;  he  contend- 
ing for  district  elections,  and  the  delegates  to  vote 
individually.  South  Carolina  was  not  represented 
in  the  convention.  After  the  first  ballot  Van  Buren' s 
vote  sensibly  decreased,  until  finally,  James  K.  Polk, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  was 
brought  forward  and  nominated  for  the  chief  office. 
Geo.  M.  Dallas  was  chosen  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 
The  nomination  of  these  gentlemen  was  a  surprise 
to  the  country. 

The  Whig  convention  nominated  Henry  Clay  for 
President,  and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  for  Vice- 
President. 

The  issues  in  the  election  which  ensued  were 
mainly  the  party  ones  of  Whig  and  Democratic, 
modified  by  the  tariff  and  Texas  questions.  It  re- 
sulted in  the  choice  of  the  Democratic  candidates, 
who  received  170  electoral  votes  as  against  105  for 
their  opponents  ;  the  popular  majority  for  the  Demo- 
crats being  238,284,  in  a  total  vote  of  2,834,108. 
Clay  received  a  larger  popular  vote  than  had  been 


JOHN  TYLER.  133 

given  at  the  previous  election  for  the  Whig  candi- 
date, showing  that  he  would  have  been  elected  had 
he  then  been  the  nominee  of  his  party;  though  the 
popular  vote  at  this  election  was  largely  increased 
over  that  of  1840.  It  is  conceded  that  the  36  elec- 
toral votes  of  New  York  State  gave  the  election  to 
Polk.  Polk  carried  New  York  by  about  5,000  votes. 
Harrison  and  Tyler's  majority  was  12,000.  The 
"Liberty"  party  ran  James  G.  Birney  as  a  sort  of 
test  of  strength,  but  it  cost  Clay  the  State.  The 
great  issue  was  the  annexation  of  Texas.  In  New 
York  the  Abolitionists  were  as  much  opposed  to  the 
annexation  as  were  the  Whigs,  and  yet  Birney  polled 
15,000  votes  that  would  otherwise  have  gone  to 
Clay  and  given  him  the  electoral  vote  of  the  State 
and  elected  him  President.  Notwithstanding  the 
party  triumph,  there  was  scarcely  a  Democrat  there 
who  did  not  feel  a  passing  pang,  at  least,  that 
"Harry  of  the  West,"  "  The  Mill  Boy  of  the 
Slashes,"  and  the  great  Senator  worthy  of  the 
palmy  days  of  ancient  Rome,  had  been  defeated.  It 
was  a  cruel  blow  of  Fate,  in  her  severest  mood. 

Tyler's  last  message  contained  an  elaborate  para- 
graph on  the  subject  of  Texas  and  Mexico;  the  idea 
being  the  annexation  of  the  former  to  the  Union, 
and  the  assumption  of  her  causes  of  grievance 
against  the  latter;  and  a  treaty  was  pending  to 
accomplish  these  objects.  Before  the  end  of  May,  a 
great  meeting  took  place  in  South  Carolina  to  com- 
bine the  slave  States  in  a  convention  to  unite  the 
Southern  States  to  Texas,  if  Texas  should  not  be 
received  into  the  Union;  and  to  invite  the  President 
to  convene  Congress  to  arrange  the  terms  of  the  dis- 


134  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

solution  of  the  Union  if  the  rejection  of  the  annexa- 
tion should  be  persevered  in.  Responsive  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  in  several  States.  The  opposi- 
tion manifested  brought  the  movement  to  a  stand, 
and  suppressed  the  disunion  scheme  for  the  time 
being. 

Annexation  was  supported  by  all  the  power  of  the 
administration,  but  failed;  it  was  rejected  in  the 
Senate  by  a  two-thirds  vote  against  it.  Following 
this,  a  joint  resolution  was  brought  into  the  House 
for  the  admission  of  Texas  as  a  State  of  the  Union, 
by  legislative  action;  it  passed  the  House  by  a  fair 
majority,  but  met  with  opposition  in  the  Senate  un- 
less coupled  with  a  proviso  for  negotiation  and  treaty, 
as  a  condition  precedent,  and  in  this  shape  it  was 
agreed  to,  and  became  a  law  March  3,  1845.  Texas 
was  then  at  war  with  Mexico,  though  an  armistice 
had  been  agreed  upon,  looking  to  a  treaty  of  peace. 

It  has  been  charged  that  Tyler  saw  that  Clay  would 
be  nominated  as  his  successor,  and  felt  stung  by  his 
overbearing  and  dictatorial  course,  and  he  therefore 
sought,  by  his  peculiar  course,  to  build  up  a  separate 
party  for  himself,  hoping  to  be  made  his  own  suc- 
cessor. If  he  entertained  such  views,  he  was  sorely 
disappointed  in  the  result.  His  course  was  such  as 
to  satisfy  neither  party.  Instead  of  rising  politically, 
Tyler  sank  down,  and  had  few  supporters  in  Con- 
gress and  fewer  elsewhere,  except  those  in  office. 

Personally,  Tyler  possessed  many  good  qualities. 
He  was  benevolent,  kind,  and  warm-hearted,  and 
without  greediness  for  money,  or  a  disposition  to 
trench  upon  the  rights  of  others.  He  possessed  some 
qualities  that  unfitted  him  for  the  Presidency.  He 


JAMES  fC.  POLK. 

was  careless,  indolent,  easily  persuaded  to  anything, 
where  old  Virginia  doctrines  did  not  point  out  the 
contrary  way.  He  was  not  prompt  nor  firm  like 
those  governed  by  inflexible  principles.  If  Virginia 
had  fully  settled  the  question,  he  was  ready  to  con- 
form to  it,  but  even  then  he  was  not  always  firm  and 
immovable,  but  often  drifted.  On  other  questions 
he  was  apt  to  follow  the  course  of  an  easy  mind. 
The  natural  promptings  of  his  mind  were  such  as 
mankind  could  approve.  The  errors  came  in  when 
he  attempted  to  control  his  natural  impulses  and 
yield  to  those  of  selfish  calculation.  The  attempt 
to  limit  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  privileges  which 
had  been  permitted  all  other  Presidents  has  left  more 
salutary  enactments  on  the  statute-book  than  were 
made  in  the  same  length  of  time  since  the  repeal  of 
the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws.  He  retired  from  office 
execrated  by  all  parties.  He  went  with  the  seces- 
sionists, and  was  a  secession  member  of  Congress 
when  he  died,  showing  that  he  had  outlived  all  the 
Whigism  that  he  once  had.  He  died  at  Richmond, 
Virginia,  January  17,  1862. 


JAMES  K.  POLK— 1845-1849. 

JAMES  K.  POLK,  the  eleventh  President,  was  born 
in  North  Carolina  on  November  2,  1795-  His  im- 
mediate ancestors  emigrated  from  Ireland.  His 
father  removed  in  1806  to  Tennessee.  Graduating 
from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in  1818,  he 
studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1820. 


136  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

He  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  in  1823,  and 
to  Congress  in  1825,  where  he  continued  fourteen 


JAMES   K.    POLK. 

years;  and  from   1835  to  1839  was  Speaker  of  the 
House.     He  was  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee  in 


JAMES  K.  POLK.  137 

1839,  and  in  1844116  was  elected  President  by  a  small 
majority  over  Henry  Clay.  He  had  always  been  an 
ardent  Democrat.  He  became  distinguished  as  a 
well-informed  statesman  in  his  opposition  to  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  was  leader  in  the  House  during 
Jackson's  Administration.  His  incorruptibility  was 
proverbial,  and  his  enemies  never  questioned  his 
truthfulness  or  integrity.  He  sought  to  be  right,  and 
when  he  believed  he  was  so,  nothing  could  turn  him. 

He  was  .inaugurated  March  4,  1845,  anc^  called 
able  men  to  his  Cabinet.  James  Buchanan  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  appointed  Secretary  of  State;  Robert 
J.  Walker  of  Mississippi  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  William  L,.  Marcy  of  New  York  assumed 
the  War  portfolio;  and  George  Bancroft,  the  histo- 
rian, was  selected  for  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  House  was  largely  Democratic.  At  this  ses- 
sion the  "American'1  party — a  new  political  organ- 
ization— first  made  its  appearance  in  the  national 
councils,  having  elected  six  members  of  the  House, 
four  from  New  York  and  two  from  Pennsylvania. 
The  President's  first  message  had  for  its  chief  topic 
the  admission  of  Texas,  then  accomplished,  and  the 
consequent  dissatisfaction  of  Mexico;  and  a  recom- 
mendation for  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  with  a  view 
to  revenue  as  the  object,  with  protection  to  home 
industry  as  the  incident. 

Florida  and  Iowa  were  admitted  into  the  Union; 
the  former  permitting  slavery  within  its  borders,  the 
latter  denying  it.  Long  before  this,  the  free  and  the 
slave  States  were  equal  in  number,  and  the  practice 
had  grown  up — from  a  feeling  of  jealously  and  policy 
to  keep  them  evenly  balanced — of  admitting  one 


138  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

State  of  each  character  at  the  same  time.  Numeri- 
cally the  free  and  the  slave  States  were  thus  kept 
even:  in  political  power  a  vast  inequality  was  going 
on — the  increase  of  population  being  so  much  greater 
in  the  northern  than  in  the  southern  region.- 

Attempts  were  made  in  1842,  and  continued  to 
1846,  to  settle  the  north-western  boundary  line  with 
Great  Britain.  It  had  been  assumed  that  we  had 
a  dividing  line,  made  by  previous  treaty,  along  the 
parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  from  the  sea  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  subject  so  much  absorbed 
public  attention,  that  the  Democratic  Convention  of 
1844  in  its  platform  declared  for  that  boundary  line, 
or  war  as  the  consequence.  It  became  known  as 
the  54-40  plank,  and  was  a  canon  of  political  faith. 
The  President  had  declared  in  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress in  favor  of  the  54-40  line;  and  he  was  in  a 
dilemma.  To  maintain  that  position  meant  war  with 
Great  Britain;  to  recede  from  it  seemed  impossible. 
Congress  had  come  together  under  the  loud  cry 
of  war,  in  which  Lewis  Cass  was  the  leader,  but 
followed  by  the  body  of  the  Democracy,  and  backed 
and  cheered  by  the  whole  Democratic  newspaper 
press.  Under  the  authority  and  order  of  Congress 
notice  had  been  served  on  Great  Britain,  which  was 
to  abrogate  the  joint  occupation  of  the  country  by 
the  citizens  of  the  two  powers.  It  was  finally  re- 
solved by  the  British  Government  to  propose  the 
line  of  49  degrees,  continuing  to  the  ocean,  as 
originally  offered  by  Calhoun;  and  though  the 
President  was  favorable  to  its  acceptance,  he  could 
not,  consistently  with  his  previous  acts,  accept  and 
make  a  treaty  on  that  basis.  Lord  Ashburton,  who 


JAMES  K.    POLK. 

had  charge  of  the  English  interests,  was  a  very  keen 
and  wily  diplomatist.  He  met  the  Democratic 
clamor  for  "54-40  or  fight"  by  saying  to  Calhoun 
and  the  Senate  slave-holding  oligarchy  that  in  the 
event  of  a  war  we  would  undoubtedly  take  Canada, 
which  would  confer  on  the  North  such  a  political 
preponderance  that  the  South  would  be  overruled 
thereafter  in  Congress,  and  crushed  in  any  disturb- 
ance she  might  initiate — the  Canadian  feeling  being 
as  pronounced  against  slavery  as  was  that  in  the 
North  and  East.  This  settled  the  boundary  question 
in  a  jiffy. 

The  President's  Message  to  the  next  Congress  re- 
lated to  the  war  with  Mexico,  which  had  been 
declared  by  almost  a  unanimous  vote  in  Congress. 
Caihoun  spoke  against  the  declaration  in  the  Senate, 
but  did  not  vote  upon  it.  He  was  sincerely  opposed 
to  the  war,  although  his  conduct  had  produced  it. 
Had  he  remained  in  the  Cabinet,  to  do  which 
he  had  not  concealed  his  wish,  he  would,  no 
doubt,  have  labored  earnestly  to  have  prevented  it. 
Many  administration  members  of  Congress  were 
averse  to  the  war.  There  was  an  impression  that  it 
could  not  last  above  three  months. 

While  this  matter  was  pending  in  Congress,  Mr. 
Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania  introduced  and  moved  a 
proviso,  "  that  no  part  of  the  territory  to  be  acquired 
should  be  open  to  the  introduction  of  slavery. ' '  It 
was  entirely  unnecessary,  as  the  only  territory  to  be 
acquired  was  that  of  New  Mexico  and  California, 
where  slavery  was  already  prohibited  by  the  Mexi- 
can laws  and  constitution.  The  proviso  only  served 
to  bring  a  slavery  agitation  on  again. 


140 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


The  Congress,  in  December,  1837,  was  found,  so 
far  as  respected  the  House,  to  be  politically  adverse 
to  the  administration.  The  Whigs  were  in  the  ma- 
jority and  elected  the  Speaker.  The  President's 
Message  contained  a  full  report  of  the  progress  of 
the  war  with  Mexico;  the  success  of  the  American 
arms  in  that  conflict;  the  victory  of  Cerro  Gordo, 
and  the  capture  of  the  City  of  Mexico;  and  that 
negotiations  were  then  pending  for  a  treaty  of  peace. 
The  message  concluded  with  a  reference  to  the  excel- 
lent results  from  the  independent  Treasury  system. 

The  war  with  Mexico  was  ended  by  the  signing 
of  a  treaty  of  peace,  in  February,  1848,  by  the  terms 
of  which  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California  were 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  and  the  lower  Rio 
Grande,  from  its  mouth  to  El  Paso,  taken  for  the 
boundary  of  Texas.  For  the  territory  thus  acquired, 
the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  to  Mexico  the  sum 
of  $15,000,000,  in  five  annual  installments.  The 
victories  achieved  by  "the  American  commanders — 
Zachary  Taylor  and  Winfield  Scott — during  that 
war,  won  for  them  national  reputation,  by  means  of 
which  they  were  brought  prominently  forward  for 
the  Presidential  succession. 

The  question  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  legislate 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  was  again 
raised,  on  the  bill  for  the  establishment  of  the  Oregon 
territorial  government. 

Calhoun,  in  the  Senate,  declared  that  the  exclusion 
of  slavery  from  any  Territory  was  a  subversion  of 
the  Union;  openly  proclaimed  the  strife  between 
the  North  and  South  to  be  ended,  and  the  separation 
of  the  States  accomplished.  "  The  South,"  he  said, 


JAMES  K.   POLK.  141 

"has  now  a  most  solemn  obligation  to  perform — to 
herself — to  the  Constitution — to  the  Union.     She  is 


CASS. 


bound  to  come  to  a  decision  not  to  permit  this  to  go 
on  any  further,  but  to  show  that,  dearly  as  she  prizes 


142  LIVES    OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  Union,  there  are  questions  which  she  regards  as 
of  greater  importance  than  the  Union.  This  is  not 
a  question  of  territorial  government,  but  a  question 
involving  the  continuance  of  the  Union."  The 
President,  in  approving  the  Oregon  Bill,  took  occa- 
sion to  send  in  a  special  Message,  pointing  out  the 
danger  to  the  Union  from  the  progress  of  the  slavery 
agitation,  and  urged  an  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  the  ordinance  of  1787 — the  terms  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  of  1820 — as  also  that  involved  and  de- 
clared in  the  Texas  case  in  1845,  as  the  means  of 
averting  that  danger. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1848  was  coming  on. 
The  Democratic  Convention  met  in  May.  The  main 
question  of  the  platform  was  the  doctrine  advanced 
by  the  Southern  members  of  non-interference  with 
slavery  in  the  States  or  in  the  Territories.  The 
candidates  of  the  party  were:  Lewis  Cass  of  Mich- 
igan for  President,  and  William  O.  Butler  of  Ken- 
tucky for  Vice- President. 

The  Whig  Convention,  taking  advantage  of  the 
popularity  of  Zachary  Taylor  for  his  military 
achievements  in  the  Mexican  War,  then  just  ended, 
and  his  consequent  availability  as  a  candidate,  nom- 
inated him  for  the  Presidency,  over  Clay,  Webster, 
and  General  Scott,  who  were  his  competitors  before 
the  convention.  Millard  Fillmore  was  selected  as  the 
Vice-Presidential  candidate. 

A  third  convention  was  held,  consisting  of  the 
disaffected  Democrats  from  New  York.  They  met 
and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  President,  and 
Charles  Francis  Adams  for  Vice-President.  The 
principles  of  its  platform  were:  That  Congress  should 


JAMES  K.  POLK.  143 

abolish  slavery  wherever  it  constitutionally  had  the 
power  to  do  so — [which  was  intended  to  apply  to  the 
District  of  Columbia] — that  it  should  not  interfere 
with  it  in  the  slave  States — and  that  it  should  pro- 
hibit it  in  the  Territories.  This  party  became  known 
as  "  Free-soilers,"  from  their  doctrines  thus  enumer- 
ated, and  their  party  cry  of  "free  soil,  free  speech, 
free  labor,  free  men."  The  result  of  the  election, 
as  had  been  foreseen,  was  to  lose  New  York  State 
to  the  regular  candidate,  and  give  it  to  the  Whigs, 
who  were  triumphant  in  the  reception  of  163  elec- 
toral votes  for  their  candidates,  against  127  for  the 
Democrats;  and  none  for  the  Free-soilers. 

In  his  last  Message  Polk  urged  upon  Congress  the 
necessity  for  some  measure  to  quiet  the  slavery  agi- 
tation, and  he  recommended  the  extension  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  pass- 
ing through  the  new  Territories  of  California  and 
New  Mexico,  as  a  fair  adjustment,  to  meet  as  far  as 
possible  (he  views  of  all  parties.  The  President  re- 
ferred also  to  the  state  of  the  finances;  the  excellent 
condition  of  the  public  Treasury;  Government  loans 
commanding  a  high  premium;  gold  and  silver  the 
established  currency;  and  the  business  interests  of 
the  country  in  a  prosperous  condition.  And  this 
was  the  state  of  affairs  only  one  year  after  emergency 
from  a  foreign  war. 

Although  Polk  could  not  rank  among  tlje  great 
statesmen  who  had  preceded  him  in  that  high  office, 
yet  his  administration  was  made  memorable  by  im- 
portant events  which  reflected  lustre  upon  it.  He 
was  wise  in  the  choice  of  his  counsellors,  and  fortu- 
nate in  theii  acts.  The  north-western  boundary 


144 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


question  was  settled.  Texas  had  been  admitted,  and 
the  war  with  Mexico,  which  followed,  was  conducted 
with  so  much  energy  and  success  in  the  field,  and 
the  great  ability  of  Marcy  in  the  Cabinet,  that  the 
acquisition  of  a  vast  territory  from  Mexico,  the  im- 
mediate discovery  of  gold  in  California,  and  the 
impulse  thus  given  to  the  advance  in  population  to 
the  Pacific,  all  combined  to  render  the  administra- 
tion of  Polk  a  most  memorable  one  in  our  history. 
Taken  altogether,  it  realized  what  the  old  Federal- 
ists used  to  call  "Jefferson's  day-dreams."  In  the 
light  of  later  events  too  much  praise  cannot  be 
awarded  to  him  for  the  distinct  announcement,  in 
the  beginning  of  his  term,  that  under  no  circum- 
stances would  he  allow  himself  to  be  considered  a 
candidate  a  second  time.  He  retired  from  office. 
March  4,  1849,  and  died  at  Nashville,  June  15,  1849. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR— 1849-1850. 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  our  twelfth  Presi- 
dent, was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1784.  His  father  was 
a  colonel  in  the  Continental  Army  and  fought  by 
the  side  of  Washington.  He  entered  the  army  in 
1808,  and  rose  by  regular  gradations  to  be  a  major- 
general.  He  was  engaged  in  fights  with  the  Indians 
and  brought  the  Seminole  War  to  a  close.  His  suc- 
cesses in  the  Mexican  War  gave  him  so  much  public 
favor  that  the  Whigs  nominated  him  for  President 
in. 1848,  and  elected  him  over  Lewis  Cass.  Millard 
Fillmore,  of  New  York,  was  elected  with  him  as 
Vice-President. 


Z A  CHARY  TAYLOR. 


145 


He  was  inaugurated  Ma*rch  4,  1849.     He  chose  a 
very   able   Cabinet,  selecting  all  Whigs;    although 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 


from   the  gate  of  the  capitol  he  announced  his  in- 
tention of   conducting  his    administration   on  the 


IP 


I46  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

principles  of  the  early  Presidents — that  he  would  be 
President  of  the  nation  and  not  of  a  party.  He 
kpew  his  want  of  qualifications  for  civil  office;  and 
frequently  expressed  his  regret  that  he  ever  con- 
sented to  run  for  the  Presidency,  saying  that  "Mr. 
Clay  ought  to  have  been  in  his  place."  He  was 
65  years  old  when  inaugurated  and  he  was  a  confid- 
ing man  and  freely  trusted  his  friends.  He  was  but 
sixteen  months  in  office,  dying  in  Washington,  July 

9,  1850.     He  was  buried  at  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
His  death  was  a  public  calamity.     No  man  could 

have  been  more  devoted  to  the  Union  nor  more 
opposed  to  the  slavery  agitation;  and  his  position  as 
a  Southern  man  and  a  slaveholder — his  military 
reputation,  and  his  election  by  a  majority  of  the 
people  as  well  as  of  the  States,  would  have  given 
him  a  power  in  the  settlement  of  the  pending  ques- 
tions of  the  day  which  no  President  without  these 
qualifications  could  have  possessed. 

In  accordance  with  the  Constitution,  the  office  of 
President  thus  devolved  upon  the  Vice-President, 
Millard  Fill  more,  who  was  duly  inaugurated  July 

10,  1850.     A  new  Cabinet,  with  Daniel  Webster  as 
Secretary  of  State,  was  appointed  and  confirmed  by 
the  Senate. 

Congress  met  in  December,  1849.  The  Senate  con- 
sisted of  sixty  members,  among  whom  were  Web- 
ster, Calhoun,  and  Clay,  who  had  returned  to  public 
life.  The  House  had  230  members;  and  although 
the  Whigs  had  a  small  majority,  the  House  was  so 
divided  on  the  slavery  question  in  its  various  phases, 
that  the  election  for  Speaker  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  the  Democratic  candidate,  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  by 


148  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

a  majority  of  three  votes.  President  Taylor's  Mes- 
sage plainly  showed  that  he  comprehended  the  dan- 
gers to  the  Union  from  a  continuance  of  sectional 
feeling  on  the  slavery  question,  and  he  averred  his 
determination  to  stand  by  the  Union  to  the  full 
extent  of  his  obligations  and  powers.  Congress  had 
spent  six  months  in  endeavoring  to  frame  a  satis- 
factory bill  providing  territorial  governments  for 
California  and  New  Mexico,  and  had  adjourned 
without  accomplishing  it,  in  consequence  of  inability 
to  agree  upon  whether  the  Missouri  Compromise 
line  should  be  carried  to  the  ocean,  or  the  Territories 
be  permitted  to  remain  as  they  were — slavery  pro- 
hibited under  the  laws  of  Mexico.  Calhoun  brought 
forward,  in  the  debate,  a  new  doctrine — extending 
the  Constitution  to  the  Territory,  and  arguing  that 
as  that  instrument  recognized  the  existence  of 
slavery,  the  settlers  in  such  Territory  should  be  per- 
mitted to  held  their  slave  property  taken  there,  and 
be  protected.  Webster's  answer  to  this  was  that 
the  Constitution  was  made  for  States,  not  Territories; 
that  it  cannot  operate  anywhere,  not  even  in  the 
States  for  which  it  was  made,  without  acts  of  Con- 
gress to  enforce  it.  The  proposed  extension  of  the 
Constitution  to  Territories,  with  a  view  to  the  trans- 
portation of  slavery  along  with  it,  was  futile  and 
nugatory  without  the  Act  of  Congress  to  vitalize 
slavery  under  it. 

The  early  part  of  the  year  had  witnessed  ominous 
movements — nightly  meeting  of  members  from  the 
slave  States,  led  by  Calhoun,  to  consider  the  state 
of  things  between  the  North  and  the  South.  They 
prepared  an  address  to  the  people.  It  was  in  this 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR.  149 

condition  of  things,  that  President  Taylor  expressed 
his  opinion,  in  his  Message,  of  the  remedies  re- 
quired. California,  New  Mexico  and  Utah,  had 
been  left  without  governments.  For  California,  he 
recommended  that  having  a  sufficient  population 
and  having  framed  a  Constitution,  she  be  admitted 
as  a  State  into  the  Union;  and  for  New  Mexico  and 
Utah,  without  mixing  the  slavery  question  with 
their  territorial  governments,  they  be  left  to  ripen 
into  States,  and  settle  the  slavery  question  for  them- 
selves in  their  State  Constitutions. 

With  a  view  to  meet  the  wishes  of  all  parties, 
Clay  introduced  compromise  resolutions  providing 
for  the  admission  of  California — the  territorial  gov- 
ernment for  Utah  and  New  Mexico — the  settlement 
of  the  Texas  boundary — slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia — and  for  a  fugitive  slave  law.  It  was 
earnestly  opposed  by  many,  as  being  a  concession  to 
the  spirit  of  disunion — a  capitulation  under  threat 
of  secession;  and  as  likely  to  become  the  source  of 
more  contentions  than  it  proposed  to  quiet. 

Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  afterwards  Presi- 
dent of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  objected  that  the 
measure  gave  nothing  to  the  South  in  the  settlement 
of  the  question;  and  he  required  the  extension  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  as  the 
least  that  he  would  be  willing  to  take,  with  the 
specific  recognition  of  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in  the 
Territories  below  that  line;  and  that,  before  such 
Territories  are  admitted  into  the  Union  as  States, 
slaves  may  be  taken  there  from  any  of  the  United 
States  at  the  option  of  their  owner. 

Clay  in  reply  said:   "  Coining  from  a  slave  State, 


1 50  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

as  I  do,  I  owe  it  to  myself,  I  owe  it  to  truth,  I  owe 
it  to  the  subject,  to  say  that  no  earthly  power  could 
induce  me  to  vote  for  a  specific  measure  for  the  in- 
troduction of  slavery  where  it  had  not  before  existed, 
either  south  or  north  of  that  line.  *  *  *  If  the 
citizens  of  those  Territories  choose  to  establish 
slavery,  I  am  for  admitting  them  with  such  pro- 
visions in  their  Constitutions;  but  then  it  will  be 
their  own  work,  and  not  ours,  and  their  posterity 
will  have  to  reproach  them,  and  not  us,  for  forming 
Constitutions  allowing  the  institution  of  slavery  to 
exist  among  them." 

Following  this,  Calhoun  said,  "All  the  elements  in 
favor  of  agitation  are  stronger  now  than  they  were 
in  1835,  when  it  first  commenced,  while  all  the  ele- 
ments of  influence  on  the  part  of  the  South  are 
weaker.  Unless  something  decisive  is  done,  what 
is  to  stop  this  agitation,  before  the  great  and  final 
object  at  which  it  aims — the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  States — is  consummated  ?  If  something  decisive 
is  not  now  done  to  arrest  it,  the  South  will  be 
forced  to  choose  between  abolition  and  secession." 

Calhoun  died  in  the  spring  of  1850,  before  the 
separate  bill  for  the  admission  of  California  was  taken 
up.  His  death,  at  68,  took  place  at  Washington. 
He  was  the  first  great  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of 
secession.  He  was  the  author  of  the  nullification 
doctrine,  and  an  advocate  of  the  extreme  doctrine  of 
State  Rights.  He  was  an  eloquent  speaker — a  man 
of  strong  intellect.  His  speeches  were  plain,  strong, 
concise,  sometimes  impassioned,  and  always  severe. 
Daniel  Webster  said  of  him,  that  "he  had  the  basis, 
the  indispensable  basis  of  all  high  characters,  and 


MILLARD  FILLMORE.  151 

that  was,   unspotted  integrity,    unirapeached  honor 
and  character! " 

The  bill  to  admit  California  was  called  up  in  the 
Senate  and  sought  to  be  amended  by  extending  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  through  it,  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  so  as  to  authorize  slavery  in  the  State  below 
that  line.  The  amendment  was  pressed  by  Southern 
friends  of  the  late  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  made  a  test 
question.  It  was  lost,  and  the  bill  passed  by  a  two- 
third  vote.  The  bill  went  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, was  readily  passed,  and  promptly 
approved  by  the  President.  Thus  was  virtually  ac- 
complished the  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise line  ;  and  the  extension  or  cion-extension  of 
slavery  was  then  made  to  form  a  foundation  for 
future  political  parties. 


MILLARD  FILLMORE—  1850-1853. 


FILLMORE,  the  thirteenth  President,  was 
born  in  New  York,  January  7,  1800.  His  great 
grandfather  was  born  in  New  England  nearly  200 
years  ago.  His  own  father  removed  to  Western 
New  York.  He  received  very  little  education  dur- 
ing his  boyhood.  He  learned  the  occupation  of  a 
clothier  in  his  youth,  but  when  19  he  resolved  to  be- 
come a  lawyer.  His  abilities,  energy,  and  industry 
were  equal  to  the  undertaking.  He  was  not  quick, 
but  prepared  his  cases  with  care  and  judgment.  In 
1828  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  and  was  twice 
re-elected.  In  1832  he  went  to  Congress  as  an  anti- 


I52  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS 

Jackson  man;  where  he  served  six  years.  In  1841 
he  was  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Com- 
mittee, where  he  gained  the  reputation  that  led  to 
his  nomination  as  Vice-President.  On  the  death  of 
General  Taylor  he  succeeded  to  the  Presidency  and 
was  inaugurated  July  9,  1850.  He  formed  a  new 
Cabinet,  all  Whigs.  It  included  Daniel  Webster, 
Secretary  of  State,  who  was  succeeded  in  1852  by 
Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts.  Thomas  Corwin 
of  Ohio  was  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  For 
Secretary  of  War  he  first  had  General  Scott,  who 
was  shortly  followed  by  Charles  M.  Conrad,  of 
Louisiana;  John  J.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  was 
Attorney-General* 

The  year  1850  was  prolific  with  disunion  move- 
ments in  the  Southern  States.  The  Senators  who 
had  joined  with  Calhoun  in  the  address  to  the 
people,  in  1849,  united  with  their  adherents  in  estab- 
lishing at  Washington  a  newspaper  entitled  "The 
Southern  Press,"  devoted  to  the  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question;  to  presenting  the  advantages  of 
disunion,  and  the  organization  of  a  Confederacy  of 
Southern  States  to  be  called  the  "United  States 
South."  Its  constant  aim  was  to  influence  the 
South  against  the  North,  and  advocated  concert  of 
action  by  the  States  of  the  former  section.  It  was 
aided  in  its  efforts  by  newspapers  published  in  the 
South,  more  especially  in  South  Carolina  and  Mis- 
sissippi. The  assembling  of  a  Southern  "Con- 
gress" was  a  turning  point  in  the  progress  of  dis- 
union. Georgia  refused  to  join;  and  her  weight  as 
a  great  Southern  State  was  sufficient  to  cause  the 
failure  of  the  scheme. 


MILLARD  FILLMORE. 


153 


Although  Congress  had  in  1790  and  again  in  1836 
declared  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  be  non- 


MIIXARD  FIU.MORE. 


interference  with  the  States  in  respect  to  the  matter 
of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  respective  States, 


154  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  subject  continued  to  be  agitated.  The  subject 
first  made  its  appearance  in  national  politics  in  1840, 
when  James  G.  Biriiey  was  nominated  by  a  party 
then  formed  favoring  the  abolition  of  slavery  ;  it 
had  a  slight  following  which  was  largely  increased 
at  the  election  of  1844,  when  the  same  party  again 
put  the  same  ticket  in  the  field,  and  received  62,140 
votes.  The  efforts  of  the  leaders  of  that  faction 
were  continued,  and  persisted  in  to  such  an  extent, 
that  when  in  1848  it  nominated  a  ticket,  with  Gerritt 
Smith  for  President,  against  the  Democratic  can- 
didate, Martin  Van  Buren,  the  former  received 
296,232  votes.  In  the  contest  of  1852  the  ticket 
had  John  P.  Hale  as  its  candidate  for  President, 
and  polled  157,926  votes.  This  following  was  in- 
creased from  time  to  time,  until,  uniting  with  a  new 
party  then  formed,  called  the  Republican  party, 
which  latter  adopted  a  platform  endorsing  the  views 
and  sentiments  of  the  abolitionists,  the  great  and 
decisive  battle  for  the  principles  involved  was 
fought  in  the  ensuing  Presidential  contest  of  1856; 
when  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party,  John 
C.  Fremont,  supported  by  the  entire  abolition  party, 
polled  1,341,812  votes. 

On  February  25,  1850,  there  were  presented  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  two  petitions  from  citizens 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  setting  forth  that 
slavery  violates  the  Divine  law;  is  inconsistent  with 
Republican  principles;  that  its  existence  has  brought 
evil  upon  the  country;  and  that  no  Union  can  exist 
with  States  which  tolerate  that  institution ;  and  ask- 
ing that  some  plan  be  devised  for  the  immediate, 
peaceful  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  House  re- 


156  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS 

fused  to  receive  and  consider  the  petitions;  as  did 
also  the  Senate  when  the  same  petitions  were  pre- 
sented the  same  month. 

Slavery  was  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
on  September  17,  1850. 

The  election  of  1852  was  the  last  campaign  in 
which  the  Whig  party  appeared  in  national  politics. 
It  nominated  a  ticket  with  Winfield  Scott  as  its  can- 
didate for  President.  His  opponent  on  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket  was  Franklin  Pierce.  A  third  ticket 
was  placed  in  the  field  by  the  Abolition  party,  with 
John  P.  Hale  as  its  candidate.  The  platform  and 
declaration  of  principles  of  the  Whig  party  were  in 
substance  an  endorsement  of  the  several  measures 
embraced  in  Clay's  compromise  resolutions  of  the 
previous  session  of  Congress,  and  the  policy  of  a 
revenue  for  the  economical  administration  of  the 
Government,  to  be  derived  mainly  from  duties  on 
imports,  and  by  these  means  to  afford  protection  to 
American  industry.  The  main  plank  of  the  plat- 
form of  the  Abolition  party  (or  Independent  Demo- 
crats, as  they  were  called)  was  for  the  non-extension 
and  gradual  extinction  of  slavery.  The  Democratic 
party  equally  adhered  to  the  compromise  measure. 
The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Franklin 
Pierce,  by  a  popular  vote  of  1,601,474,  and  254  elec- 
toral votes,  against  a  popular  aggregate  vote  of 
1,542,403  (of  which  the  abolitionists  polled 
157,926)  and  42  electoral  votes,  for  the  Whig  and 
abolition  candidates.  Pierce  was  duly  inaugurated 
as  President,  March  4,  1853. 

A  new  law  for  the  reclamation  of  fugitive  slaves 
was  passed  in  1850,  containing  substantially  the  same 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


157 


provisions  as  the  law  of  1793.  The  law  authorizing 
the  removal  of  the  slave  to  the  State  from  which  he 
escaped,  might  be  tolerated;  but  when  all  citizens 
were  "commanded  to  aid  in  the  execution  of  the 
law,"  its  enforcement  was  practically  nullified.  The 
abolitionist  and  the  humanitarian  placed  the  moral 
law  above  the  legal  enactment,  and  acted  accord- 
ingly. It  was  confidently  expected  that  the  President 
would  refuse  to  give  the  bill  his  sanction.  It  met 
with  his  approval.  Filhnore  lost  whatever  chance 
he  had  of  the  nomination  by  his  party,  by  signing 
and  seeking  to  enforce  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 
He  retired  from  office  March  4,  1853,  an(^  returned 
to  Buffalo.  He  was  nominated  in  1856  by  the 
American  party,  but  received  no  electoral  votes 
but  those  of  Maryland.  He  died  March  8,  1874, 
and  was  buried  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE— 1853-1857. 

FRANKLIN  PIERCE,  our  thirteenth  President,  was 
inaugurated  March  4,  1853.  He  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire,  November  23,  1804.  His  father,  General 
Benjamin  Pierce,  served  throughout  the  Revolution- 
ary War  in  his  youth,  and  half  a  century  later  was 
twice  elected  Governor  of  New  Hampshire.  Franklin 
graduated  at  Bowdoin  College  in  1824,  studied  law, 
was  soon  a  successful  practitioner,  and  was  elected 
to  the  State  Legislature.  He  was  sent  to  Congress 
in  1833,  and  re-elected  for  a  second  term,  when  he 
was  advanced  to  the  Senate,  being  its  youngest 


158  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

member.  He  volunteered  as  a  private  in  the  Mex- 
ican War,  where  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general.  He  joined  the  army  under  Scott,  by  whom 
he  was  praised  for  his  gallantry  and  discretion.  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Concord,  resumed 
the  practice  of  law,  declining  all  political  honors 
until  the  Democratic  convention  met  in  1852.  It 
was  found  that  the  four  great  competitors,  Cass, 
Buchanan,  Marcy,  and  Douglas,  could  not  gain  the 
requisite  number  of  votes;  so  the  Virginia  delegation 
brought  forward  the  name  of  General  Pierce,  and  he 
was  nominated  by  acclamation,  carrying  in  the  elec- 
tion all  the  States  except  four,  against  his  illustrious 
rival,  General  Scott. 

To  his  Cabinet  he  invited  William  L.  Marcy  as 
Secretary  of  State;  James  Guthrie  of  Kentucky  was 
given  the  Treasury;  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi 
was  appointed  War  Secretary;  and  Caleb  Gushing 
of  Massachusetts  was  made  Attorney-General. 

On  February  8,  1853,  a  bill  passed  the  House  of 
Representatives  providing  a  territorial  government 
for  Nebraska,  embracing  all  of  what  is  now  Kansas 
and  Nebraska.  It  was  silent  on  the  subject  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  The  bill  was 
tabled  in  the  Senate,  to  be  revived  at  the  following 
session.  It  was  amended  to  prohibit  "alien  suf- 
frage." In  the  House  this  amendment  was  not  agreed 
to,  and  the  bill  finally  passed  without  it. 

So  far  as  Nebraska  was  concerned,  no  excitement 
of  any  kind  marked  the  initiation  of  her  territorial 
existence.  Kansas  was  less  fortunate.  Her  terri- 
tory became  at  once  the  battle-field  of  a  fierce  polit- 
ical conflict  between  the  advocates  of  slavery,  and 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


159 


the  free-soil  men  from  the  North  who  went  there  to 
resist  the  establishment  of  that  institution  in  the 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


Territory.     Differences  arose  between   the   Legisla- 
ture and  the  Governor,  brought  about  by  antago- 


160  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

nisms  between  the  Pro-Slavery  party  and  the  Free 
State  party;  and  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Kansas 
assumed  so  frightful  a  mien  in  January,  1856,  that 
the  President  sent  a  special  Message  to  Congress  on 
the  subject;  followed  by  a  Proclamation,  February 
n,  1856,  "  warning  all  unlawful  combinations  (in 
the  Territory)  to  retire  peaceably  to  their  respective 
abodes,  or  he  would  use  the  power  of  the  local  militia 
and  the  available  forces  of  the  U.  S.  to  disperse  them. 

Applications  were  made  for  several  successive  years 
for  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State  in  the  Union, 
upon  the  basis  of  three  separate  and  distinct  consti- 
tutions, all  differing  as  to  the  main  questions  at  issue 
between  the  contending  factious.  The  name  of 
Kansas  was  for  some  years  synonymous  with  all  that 
is  lawless  and  anarchical.  Elections  became  mere 
farces,  and  the  officers  thus  fraudulently  placed  in 
power,  used  their  authority  only  for  their  own  or 
their  party's  interest.  The  party  opposed  to  slavery 
at  length  triumphed;  a  constitution  excluding  slavery 
was  adopted  in  1859,  and  Kansas  was  admitted  into 
the  Union  January  29,  1861. 

The  National  party  began  preparations  for  a  cam- 
paign in  1856.  It  aimed  to  introduce  opposition  to 
aliens  and  Roman  Catholicism  as  a  national  question. 
On  February  21,  1856,  the  National  Council  held  a 
session  at  Philadelphia,  and  proceeded  to  formulate 
a  declaration  of  principles.  Among  other  things,  it 
declared  that ;  Americans  must  rule  America,  and 
to  this  end,  native-born  citizens  should  be  selected 
for  all  State,  Federal,  and  municipal  offices  or  Gov- 
ernment employment,  in  preference  to  all  others. 
No  person  shall  be  selected  for  political  station  who 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE.  !6i 

recognizes  any  allegiance  or  obligation,  of  any  de- 
scription, to  any  foreign  prince,  potentate,  or  power, 
or  who  refuses  to  recognize  the  Federal  and  State 
Constitutions  as  paramount  to  all  other  laws,  as  rules 
of  political  action.  (This  was  a  crack  at  the  Pope.) 
A  change  in  the  laws  of  naturalization,  making  a 
continued  residence  of  21  years  an  indispensable 
requisite  for  citizenship  hereafter,  and  excluding  all 
paupers,  and  persons  convicted  of  crime,  from  land- 
ing upon  our  shores,  but  no  interference  with  the 
vested  rights  of  foreigners.  Opposition  to  any  union 
between  Church  and  State;  no  interference  with 
religious  faith,  or  worship,  and  no  test  oaths  for 
office. 

The  convention  was  composed  of  227  delegates, 
all  the  States  being  represented  except  Maine, 
Vermont,  Georgia,  and  South  Carolina.  Millard 
Fill  more  was  nominated  for  President,  and  Andrew 
J.  Donelson  for  Vice-President. 

The  Whig  Convention  endorsed  the  nominations 
made  by  the  American  party,  and  in  its  platform  de- 
clared that  u  the  Union  is  in  peril,  and  our  convic- 
tion is,  that  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Fillmore  to  the 
Presidency  will  furnish  the  best  means  of  restoring 
peace. ' ' 

The  first  National  Convention  of  the  new  Repub- 
lican party  met  at  Philadelphia,  June  18,  1856,  and 
nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  President,  and  Wil- 
liam L.  Dayton  for  Vice-Presideut.  The  Republican 
party,  still  composed  of  uncertain  elements,  sought 
only  for  a  candidate  that  was  available.  Seward  or 
Chase  was  the  natural  candidate.  Both  were  fully 
identified  with  the  principles  and  purposes  of  their 
ii 


!62  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

party.  Both  were  men  of  marked  ability,  strong  in 
their  respective  States,  each  elected  governor  of  his 
State  and  sure  of  its  support;  but  Chase  was  opposed 
on  account  of  his  advanced  opinions  on  the  slavery 
question,  and  Seward  was  actively  opposed  by  the 
so-called  American  party  for  his  open  hostility  to  its 
principles  and  policy.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that 
public  opinion  gradually  but  strongly  turned  to  John 
C.  Fremont,  who  had  no  experience  in  public  life, 
but  who  had  attracted  attention  by  his  bold  explora- 
tions in  the  West,  and  especially  by  his  marching  to 
California,  and  occupation  of  that  Mexican  territory. 

This  convention  met  in  pursuance  of  a  call  ad- 
dressed to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  without 
regard  to  past  political  differences  or  divisions,  who 
were  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise; to  the  policy  of  President  Pierce's  Administra- 
tion; to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  free  territory, 
and  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  free 
State,  and  of  restoring  the  action  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  the  principles  of  Washington  and 
Jefferson. 

The  Democrats  of  Pennsylvania  nominated  James 
Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania  for  President,  and  John 
C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  for  Vice-President ; 
Pierce  being  his  chief  competitor,  receiving  122 
ballots  on  the  first  vote.  Its  platform  declared  (i) 
that  the  revenue  to  be  raised  should  not  exceed  the 
actual  necessary  expenses  of  the  Government,  and 
for  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  public  debt;  (2)  that 
the  Constitution  does  not  confer  upon  the  general 
Government  the  power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a 
general  system  of  internal  improvements;  (3)  for  a 


JOHN  C.    FREMONT. 
{Major-General  in  the  Union  Army.) 


164  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

strict  construction  of  the  powers  granted  by  the 
Constitution  to  the  Federal  Government;  (4)  that 
Congress  has  no  power  to  charter  a  national  bank ; 
(5)  that  Congress  has  no  power  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  States  and  Territories;  the  people  of 
which  have  the  exclusive  right  and  power  to  settle 
that  question  for  themselves.  (6)  Opposition  to 
native  Americanism. 

At  the  election  which  followed,  the  Democratic 
candidates  were  elected,  though  by  a  popular 
minority  vote,  having  received  1,838,160  popular 
votes,  and  174  electoral  votes,  against  2,215,768 
popular  votes,  and  122  electoral  votes  for  John  C. 
Fremont,  the  Republican  candidate,  and  Millard 
Fillmore,  the  Whig  and  American  candidate. 

Pierce's  election  was  the  last  national  contest  in 
which  the  Whig  party  had  an  active  share.  It  had 
never  succeeded  in  breaking  the  power  of  its  oppo- 
nent. Twice  its  candidate  had  been  elected,  but  in 
both  cases  success  was  due  to  the  personal  popularity 
and  military  reputation  of  the  candidates.  Both 
died  early,  one  in  a  month,  and  the  other  in  a  trifle 
over  a  year  after  inauguration. 

Franklin  Pierce  returned  to  private  life,  March  4, 
1857.  His  administration  was  made  entirely  sub- 
servient to  the  interests  of  slaver}'.  Whatever  repu- 
tation it  may  have  won  was  wholly  due  to  Governor 
Marcy,  whose  wise  management  of  our  foreign  affairs 
ranked  him  among  the  great  men  of  our  times.  In 
1863,  Pierce  made  a  speech  at  Concord  against  the 
Coercion  of  the  Confederates.  He  died  October  8, 
1869,  and  was  buried  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire. 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


JAMES  BUCHANAN—  1857-1861. 

JAMES  BUCHANAN,  our  fourteenth  President,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  April  23,  1791,  and  next  to 
Harrison  he  was  the  oldest  of  the  Presidents  at  the 
time  of  his  election.  He  was  well  educated,  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1812.  He  was 
elected  to  his  State  Legislature  when  he  was  23 
years  old.  In  1822  he  entered  Congress,  and  con- 
tinued till  1831,  when  he  declined  a  re-election. 
Jackson  sent  him  as  Minister  to  Russia  in  1832.  On 
his  return  home  in  1834  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate, 
where  he  served  till  1845,  when  he  resigned  his  seat 
to  become  President  Polk's  Secretary  of  State.  In 
1853  Pierce  appointed  him  Minister  to  England, 
where  he  remained  till  1856.  He  was  one  of  the 
three  American  Ministers  who  signed  the  document 
known  as  the  "Ostend  Manifesto,"  advising  our 
Government  to  seize  Cuba  by  force  if  it  could  not 
be  purchased  from  Spain.  With  England,  France, 
and  Spain  against  us,  seizing  Cuba  was,  of  course, 
out  of  the  question.  On  his  return  he  was  nomi- 
nated for  the  Presidency  by  the  Democrats,  and 
elected;  was  sworn  into  office  March  4,  1857,  and 
served  out  the  full  term  of  four  years.  In  early  life 
he  was  classed  with  the  Federalists,  but  abandoned 
them  on  account  of  their  opposition  to  the  War  of 
1812.  He  ever  afterwards  acted  with  the  Democrats. 

Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan  was  called  to  the  State 
Department;  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and  John  B.  Floyd  of 
Virginia  was  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department; 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Jeremiah  S.  Black  of  Pennsylvania  was  appointed 
Attorney-General;  Jacob  Thompson  of  Mississippi 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  served  out 
his  full  term;  Isaac  Toucey  of  Connecticut  was 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  advent  of  Mr.  Buchanan  was  preceded  by 
symptoms  which  looked  like  a  general  disruption  of 
society,  and  he  was  hardly  in  a  very  hopeful  mood 
when  he  delivered  his  inaugural.  In  that  address,  he 
stated  that  he  had  determined  not  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  re-election,  and  would  have  no  motive  to 
influence  his  conduct,  except  the  desire  to  serve  his 
country,  and  to  live  in  the  grateful  memory  of  his 
countrymen.  They  had  recently,  he  observed, 
passed  through  a  Presidential  contest  in  which  the 
passions  of  their  fellow-citizens  had  been  excited  in 
the  highest  degree  by  questions  of  deep  and  vital 
importance.  Referring  to  the  Kansas  difficulty,  he 
said:  "Congress  is  neither  to  legislate  slavery  into 
any  Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom; 
but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form 
and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own 
way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States."  Buchanan  was  not  the  man  to  condemn 
anything  which  favored  the  interests  of  the  slave- 
holding  States. 

At  the  very  outset  of  his  Presidency  the  slave 
question  was  once  more  before  the  law  courts.  A 
negro,  named  Dred  Scott,  claimed  his  freedom  on 
the  score  of  residing  in  a  State  from  which  slavery 
had  been  excluded  by  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
In  delivering  judgment,  the  Supreme  Court  declared 
that  the  Missouri  Compromise  exceeded  the  powers 


JAMES  BUCHANAN.  167 

of  Congress  by  its  invasion  of  State  rights  and  sov- 
ereignty ;  that  men  of  African  race  were  not  citizens 


JA.MES   BUCHANAN. 


of  the  United  States;  that  the  residence  of  a  slave 
ill  a  free  State  did  not  affect  his  legal  condition  on 


T68  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

returning  to  a  State  where  slavery  was  allowed  by 
law;  and  that  the  negro  had  no  rights  which  the 
white  man  was  bound  to  respect.  It  was  also  decided 
that  the  ordinance  of  1787,  so  far  as  it  prohibited 
slavery  from  the  North-west  Territory,  was  uncon- 
stitutional. Thus  all  legislation  against  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery,  from  the  formation  of  the  Constitution 
to  that  very  year,  was  swept  away  at  one  blow. 
Such  was  the  decision  of  the  Democratic  judges, 
who  were  in  the  majority;  two  other  judges,  who 
were  Whigs,  were  in  favor  of  the  negro's  claim. 
Great  disappointment  was  felt  at  the  North ;  but  all 
such  decisions  helped  forward  the  catastrophe  by 
which  slavery  was  blotted  out  forever. 

A  convention  to  frame  a  Constitution  for  Kansas 
met  at  Lecompton.  A  large  majority  of  its  members 
were  in  favor  of  establishing  slavery  in  Kansas. 
All  the  white  male  inhabitants  of  the  Territory 
above  the  age  of  21  were  entitled  to  vote.  They 
were  to  vote  by  ballots  which  were  endorsed,  ' '  Con- 
stitution with  Slavery,"  and  "Constitution  with  no 
Slavery."  If  the  Constitution  with  no  Slavery 
were  carried,  it  was  expressly  declared  that  no  slav- 
ery should  exist  in  the  State,  excepting  to  this  ex- 
tent, that  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  then  in  the 
Territory  should  not  be  interfered  with.  The 
exception  was  a  serious  one,  because  many  slave- 
holders had  gone  therewith  their  human  cattle;  but 
such  was  the  tenderness  of  the  convention  towards 
these  men  that  they  were  permitted  to  take  advan- 
tage of  their  own  wrong.  To  Buchanan,  this 
arrangement  seemed  fair  and  admirable.  Referring 
to  the  negroes  already  in  the  Territory,  he  said: — 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


169 


The  Free  State  settlers  refused   to  vote,  and    the 
Lecompton  Constitution  with  Slavery  received  6000 


A   HOMESTEAD   IN   KANSAS. 


majority.  The  President  desired  to  admit  Kansas 
under  this  Constitution.  He  was  supported  by  all 
the  Southern  Congressmen;  and  opposed  by  the 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Republicans  and  the  "  Douglas "  Democrats.  The 
Senate  passed  a  bill  for  the  admission  of  Kansas.  It 
went  to  the  House,  where  a  proviso  was  tacked  on  to 
the  bill  sending  it  back  to  the  people  of  Kansas  for  a 
new  vote  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  where  it 
was  rejected  by  more  than  10,000  majority.  A  new 
Convention  met  at  Wyandot  in  July,  1859,  where  a 
Constitution  was  adopted  prohibiting  slavery.  This 
was  submitted  to  the  people  and  received  a  majority 
in  its  favor  of  over  4000  votes.  So  Kansas  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  as  a  Free  State,  January 
29,  1861. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  country,  Buchanan 
described  as  without  a  parallel.  The  nation  was 
positively  embarassed  by  too  large  a  surplus.  Not- 
withstanding this,  commercial  panics  created  far- 
spread  ruin  in  the  fall  of  1857.  A  condition  of  gen- 
eral prosperity  had  existed  for  years,  and  it  was  de- 
clared that  this  had  led  to  overtrading,  and  a  serious 
revulsion  set  in.  According  to  the  President  the 
troubles  proceeded  from  a  vicious  system  of  paper- 
currency  and  bank  credits  exciting  the  people  to 
wild  speculations,  and  to  gambling  in  stocks.  In  the 
midst  of  unsurpassed  plenty  in  all  the  productions 
of  agriculture  and  all  the  elements  of  national 
wealth,  manufactures  were  suspended,  public  works 
retarded,  private  enterprises  abandoned,  and  thou- 
sands of  laborers  thrown  out  of  employment.  There 
were  about  1400  State  Banks,  acting  independently 
of  each  other,  and  regulating  their  paper  issues 
almost  exclusively  by  a  regard  to  the  present 
interests  of  their  stockholders. 


172 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


No  crisis  was  ever  so  unexpected,  none  ever 
culminated  so  rapidly,  or  proved  so  destructive. 
The  commercial  "suspensions"  were  wholly  due  to 
the  breakdown  of  credit ;  the  greater  part  were  per- 
fectly solvent,  and  able  to  resume  as  soon  as  the 
effects  of  the  panic  were  over.  It  is  important  to 
observe  that  not  only  were  the  New  York  and 
Eastern  banks  perfectly  solvent,  but  their  notes  were 
never  mistrusted;  and  after  the  suspension  of  pay- 
ments in  specie,  their  notes  continued  to  circulate 
at  par.  It  was  a  run  for  deposits  which  shut  up 
the  banks;  and  a  similar  run  would  shut  up  every 
bank  in  existence.  The  crisis  spread  to  England. 
The  great  London  joint-stock  banks  and  discount 
houses  suspended,  as  did  those  in  Hamburg,  and  the 
Bank  of  England,  after  increasing  its  discount  rate 
from  six  to  ten  per  cent,  was  forced  to  suspend  specie 
payments.  Then  the  tide  turned. 

A  menacing  question  was  the  condition  of  Utah. 
Brigham  Young  was  by  Federal  appointment  the 
Governor  of  the  Territory  and  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs ;  he  was  at  the  same  time  head  of  the 
church  called  "the  Latter-Day  Saints,"  and  professed 
to  govern  its  members  and  dispose  of  their  property 
by  direct  inspiration  and  authority  from  God.  His 
power  was  therefore  absolute  over  both  Church  and 
State ;  and  if  he  chose  that  his  government  should 
come  into  collision  with  the  General  Government, 
the  members  of  the  Mormon  Church  would  yield 
implicit  obedience  to  his  will.  The  position  looked 
threatening,  and  it  was  made  more  difficult  by  the 
enormous  distance  the  Federal  troops  had  to  traverse, 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

and  the  rugged  and  inhospitable  desert  which  lay 
between  them  and  their  enemy.  The  trouble  was 
temporarily  quieted  by  a  compromise;  but  the  Mor- 
mon difficulty  yet  remained  for  more  effectual  settle- 
ment in  later  years.  The  Pacific  Railroad  was  at  that 
time  only  talked  about. 

In  1859  the  Atlantic  cable  was  successfully  laid 
across  the  ocean,  and  America  and  Europe  were 
united  by  telegraph.  The  first  message  occupied  but 
thirty-five  minutes  in  its  transmission.  The  cable 
had  been  hastily  manufactured,  and  was  not  fitted 
to  bear  the  strain  to  which  it  was  subjected.  In  a 
little  while  the  insulation  of  the  wire  became  faulty 
and  the  power  of  transmitting  intelligence  ceased. 
[So  that  through  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  from 
1861  to  1865,  we  could  communicate  with  Europe 
only  in  the  old-fashioned  way.]  A  new  company 
was  formed  in  1860.  Various  attempts  were  made, 
and,  after  repeated  failures,  the  cable  was  finally  laid 
in  1866;  since  which  time  it  has  been  in  successful 
operation  between  our  shores  and  those  of  Great 
Britain. 

The  Pacific  Railway  was  another  great  project  of 
this  time.  Buchanan,  in  1858,  observed,  "twelve 
months  ago  a  road  to  the  Pacific  was  held  by  many 
wise  men  to  be  a  visionary  subject.  They  had  argued 
that  the  immense  distance  to  be  overcome,  and  the 
intervening  mountains  and  deserts,  were  obstacles 
that  could  never  be  surmounted.  We  have  seen 
mail-coaches  with  passengers,  passing  and  repassing 
twice  a  week,  by  a  common  wagon-road,  between 
San  Francisco  and  St.  Louis  and  Memphis,  in  less 
than  twenty-five  days  ;"  and  he  urged  that  the  Gov- 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

eminent  should  undertake  the  work  as  speedily  as 
possible.  Congress  acknowledged  the  force  of  these 
words,  and  the  Pacific  Railway  has  been  one  of  the 
greatest  achievements  of  our  genius,  skill,  and  cap- 
ital. 

Before  the  end  of  Buchanan's  Administration,  and 
on  the  day  that  Sumter  was  fired  upon  by  the  Con- 
federate Government,  and  while  England  and  France 
and  the  rest  of  Europe  were  watching  what  they 
looked  upon  as  the  distinct  "dissolution  of  the  great 
American  Union,"  and  facetiously  styling  us  the 
"\3ntied  States,"  the  Representatives  in  Congress 
of  "free  men,  free  speech,  free  press,  free  soil,  and 
freedom,"  were  voting  the  expenditures  necessary 
to  build  the  Pacific  Railway,  uniting  the  Atlantic  to 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  proclaiming  one  undivided 
Nation  ! 

John  Brown,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  bid  been 
for  many  years  the  terror  of  slave-holders.  He  was 
an  Abolitionist.  To  him  slavery  was  a  sin,  and  to 
tolerate  it  in  any  way,  or  for  any  period,  was  a  crime. 
He  belonged  to  the  farmer  class,  simple  in  manners, 
truthful  in  nature,  fanatical  in  his  convictions,  and 
beyond  the  influence  of  fear.  In  Kansas  he  fought 
the  Pro-Slavery  party  with  courage,  and  often  de- 
feated them  with  loss.  He  had  sons  like  himself, 
and  two  of  these,  who  had  settled  in  Kansas,  were 
murdered  by  the  "  border  ruffians." 

He  resolved  to  attack  Harper's  Ferry,  in  Virginia, 
and  make  it  the  starting-point  of  his  attempt  to 
rouse  the  negroes  of  the  Southern  States.  He  col- 
lected a  band  of  20  white  men,  and  seized  the  Fed- 
eral Armory  at  Harper's  Ferry,  where  he  was 


176  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

speedily  joined  by  several  hundred  sympathizers. 
Arms  were  hastily  despatched  towards  the  South, 
and  every  inducement  was  held  out  to  the  negroes 
to  engage  in  a  general  revolt. 

Next  morning  the  townspeople  attacked  the  arm- 
ory. Of  course,  Brown  could  not  successfully  repel 
any  regular  assault.  He  and  his  followers  refused 
to  surrender,  but  they  were  captured.  Brown  was 
wounded  in  several  places  in  the  final  attack;  his 
remaining  two  sons  were  slain;  and  others  of  his 
followers  lay  dead  about  the  arsenal. 

He  had  acted  according  to  an  imperative  sense  of 
duty;  he  had  set  his  life  upon  a  desperate  cast,  and, 
having  failed,  he  was  prepared  to  meet  the  conse- 
quences with  that  quiet  courage  which  was  a  con- 
spicuous part  of  his  nature.  He  was  59  years  old, 
rather  small-sized,  with  keen,  restless,  gray  eyes, 
and  a  grizzly  beard  and  hair;  wiry,  active,  and  de- 
termined. 

His  conviction  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  as  the 
conviction  of  any  man  must  be  who  is  taken  in  the 
act  of  breaking  the  laws.  He  was  warmly  supported 
by  the  Northern  Abolitionists;  but  more  temperate 
politicians  deplored  the  error  he  had  committed,  and 
saw  there  was  no  reasonable  hope  of  his  being  spared. 
He  was  found  guilty  October.  31,  and  was  hung 
December  2,  1859.  His  companions  were  hung 
in  March,  1860. 

John  Brown's  attempt  had  failed.  It  was  rash, 
hopeless,  ill-advised,  if  we  consider  nothing  but  the 
immediate  consequences;  but  it  led  to  vast  results 
in  a  future  which  was  not  distant.  It  made  still 
more  obvious  the  utter  incompatibility  of  a  Free 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


177 


North  and  a  Slave-holding  South.  It  quickened 
throughout  all  the  Northern  States  a  passion  of  re- 
forming zeal.  It  roused  the  fears  and  armed  the 
hands  of  Southern  planters,  and  made  them  compre- 
hend that  this 
dread  ques- 
tion must  be 
brought  to  an 
issue,  fierce, 
agonizing, 
and  conclu- 
sive. It  caused 
both  sides  to 
understand 
their  wishes 
and  their  will 
better  than 
they  had  ever 
understood 
them  before. 
It  cleared 
away  a  mass 
of  equivoca- 
tions, eva- 
sions, compro- 
mises, and  in- 
sincerities. .It 
placed  the  moral  law  above  the  constitutional,  and 
called  sternly  and  sharply  on  all  men  to  choose  their 
color,  and  to  abide  by  it.  The  coming  Presidential 
election  was  determined  beforehand  by  that  Vir- 
ginian execution:  the  victory  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
dates  from  the  defeat  of  Harper's  Ferry. 

12 


JOHN   BROWN. 


!78  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  April  23,  1860.  Caleb  dishing,  from 
Massachusetts,  presided. 

Three  years  earlier,  the  man  most  favored  by  the 
Democrats,  as  their  probable  candidate  at  the  next 
Presidential  election,  was  Senator  Douglas,  of  Illi- 
nois, whose  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  was  held  to  have 
given  him  great  claims  on  the  South.  But  he  con- 
sidered that  the  slave-holders  had  gained  enough,  and 
he  was  unwilling  to  grant  them  anything  more.  He 
opposed  Buchanan's  zealous  efforts  to  obtain  the  ad- 
mission of  Kansas  to  the  Union  as  a  slave  State,  and 
had  thus  earned  the  hatred  of  the  extreme  members 
of  the  Democratic  party. 

Before  the  balloting  began,  a  reaffirmance  of  the 
two-thirds  rule  was  resolved  upon.  It  was  well 
known  that  this  resolution  rendered  the  regular  nomi- 
nation of  Douglas  impossible. 

The  balloting  began  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  ses- 
sion. Necessary  to  a  nomination,  202  votes.  Doug- 
las received  145^  votes ;  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virginia, 
42  ;  Mr.  Guthrie,  of  Kentucky,  35^>  ;  with  some  few 
scattering  votes. 

There  were  54  additional  ballotings.  Douglas  never 
rose  to  more  than  152^,  and  ended  in  151^2  votes. 

.In  the  hope  that  some  compromise  might  be 
effected,  the  convention,  adjourned  to  meet  at  Balti- 
more on  June  18,  1860. 

At  this  convention  Douglas  received  181^  votes, 
and  was  accordingly  declared  to  be  the  regular 
nominee  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  Union. 

Senator  Fitzpatrick,  of  Alabama,   was   nominated 


JAMES  BUCHANAN.  179 

as   the    candidate    for    Vice-President,    but  declined 
the  nomination,  and  it  was  conferred  on    Herschel 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS. 


V.   Johnson,    of  Georgia,    by    the    Executive   Com- 
mittee.    Thus  ended  the  Douglas  Convention. 

Another   convention   assembled   at    Baltimore   on 


l8o  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

June  23,  styling  itself  the  "National  Democratic 
Convention."  It  was  composed  chiefly  of  the  dele- 
gates who  had  withdrawn  from  the  Douglas  Con- 
vention, and  the  original  delegates  from  Alabama 
and  Louisiana.  They  abrogated  the  two-third  rule, 
as  had  been  done  by  the  Douglas  Convention. 
Both  acted  under  the  same  necessity,  because  the 
preservation  of  this  rule  would  have  prevented  a 
nomination  by  either. 

Mr.  Gushing  presided  here  also. 

The  following  names  were  presented  to  the  con- 
vention for  the  nomination  of  President:  John  C. 
Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  of 
Virginia,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  of  New  York  and 
Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon. 

Eventually  all  these  names  were  withdrawn  ex- 
cept that  of  John  C.  Breckenridge,  and  he  received 
the  nomination  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  whole 
number  of  votes  cast  in  his  favor  from  twenty  States 
was  103^. 

General  Lane  was  nominated  as  the  candidate 
for  Vice-President.  Thus  terminated  the  Brecken- 
ridge Convention. 

The  Republicans  met  at  Chicago,  May  16,  1860. 
They  were  greatly  encouraged  by  the  large  vote  for 
Fremont  and  Dayton,  and  what  had  now  become 
apparent  as  an  irreconcilable  division  pf  the  Democ- 
racy, encouraged  them  in  the  belief  that  they 
could  elect  their  candidates.  Those  of  the  West 
were  especially  enthusiastic,  and  had  contributed 
freely  to  the  erection  of  an  immense  "Wigwam," 
capable  of  holding  10,000  people,  at  Chicago.  All 
the  Northern  States  were  fully  represented,  and  there 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


181 


were  delegations  from    Delaware,    Maryland, 

tucky,  Missouri  and  Virginia,  with  occasional 

gates     from 

other      Slave 

States,    there 

being     none, 

however, 

from  the  Gulf 

States.  David 

Wilrnot     was 

chairman.  No 

d  i  fife  r  e  n  c  e  s 

were    excited 

by  the  report 

of    the    com- ! 


Ken- 
dele- 


m 1 1 1  e  e  on 
platform,  and 
the  proceed- 
ings through- 
out were  char- 
acterized by 
great  harmo- 
ny, though 
there  was  a 
sharp  contest 
for  the  nomi- 
nation. The 
prominent 
candidates 
were  William 
H.  Seward,  of  New  York  ;  Abraham  Lincoln,  of 
Illinois  ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio  ;  Simon  Cam- 
eron, of  Pennsylvania,  and  Edward  Bates,  of  Mis- 


JOHN  C.   BRECKENRIDGE. 


1 82  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

souri.  There  were  three  ballots,  Lincoln  receiving 
in  the  last  354  out  of  446  votes.  Seward  led  the 
vote  at  the  beginning,  but  he  was  strongly  opposed 
by  gentlemen  in  his  own  State  as  prominent  as 
Horace  Greeley,  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
the  Republican  organ  of  the  country,  and  Thurlow 
Weed,  the  then  political  leader  of  New  York  State, 
and  his  nomination  was  thought  to  be  inexpedient. 
Lincoln  had  been  a  candidate  but  a  month  or  two 
before,  while  Se ward's  name  had  been  everywhere 
canvassed,  and  where  opposed  in  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  States,  it  was  mainly  because  of  the  belief 
that  his  views  on  slavery  were  too  radical.  He  was 
more  strongly  favored  by  the  Abolition  branch  of 
the  party  than  any  other  candidate.  When  the 
news  of  his  success  was  conveyed  to  Lincoln  he 
read  it  in  silence,  and  then  announcing  the  re- 
sult said:  "There  is  a  little  woman  down  at  our 
house  would  like  to  hear  this — I'll  go  down  and 
tell  her,"  and  he  started  amid  the  shouts  of  personal 
admirers.  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  was  nomi- 
nated for  Vice-President  with  much  unanimity,  and 
the  Chicago  Convention  closed  its  work  in  a  single 
day. 

A  u  Constitutional  Union,"  or  an  American  Con- 
vention, met  on  May  9.  Twenty  States  were  repre- 
sented, and  John  Bell  of  Tennessee,  and  Edward 
Everett  of  Massachusetts,  were  named  for  the  Pres- 
idency and  Vice-Presidency.  Their  friends,  though 
known  to  be  less  in  number  than  either  those  of 
Douglas,  Lincoln  or  Breckenridge,  yet  made  a  vig- 
orous canvass  in  the  hope  that  the  election  would  be 
thrown  into  the  House,  and  that  there  a  compromise 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

(President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.}  183 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

in  the  vote  by  States  would  naturally  turn  toward 
their  candidates.  The  result  of  this  greatest  contest 
is  given  below. 

Lincoln  received  large  majorities  in  nearly  all  of 
the  free  States,  his  popular  vote  being  1,866,452  ; 
electoral  vote,  180.  Douglas  was  next  in  the  pop- 
ular estimate,  receiving  1,375,157  votes,  with  but  12 
electors;  Breckenridge  had  847,953  votes,  with  76 
electors;  Bell,  with  570,631  votes,  had  39  electors. 

The  principles  involved  in  the  controversy  were 
briefly  these :  The  Republican  party  asserted  that 
slavery  should  not  be  extended  to  the  Territories  ; 
that  it  could  exist  only  by  virtue  of  local  and  posi- 
tive law ;  that  freedom  was  national ;  that  slavery  was 
sectional  and  morally  wrong,  and  the  nation  should 
at  least  anticipate  its  gradual  extinction.  The  Doug- 
las wing  of  the  Democratic  party  adhered  to  the 
doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  claimed  that  in 
its  exercise  in  the  Territories  they  were  indiffer- 
ent whether  slavery  was  voted  up  or  down.  The 
Breckenridge  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  asserted 
both  the  moral  and  legal  right  to  hold  slaves,  and  to 
carry  them  to  the  Territories,  and  that  no  power 
save  the  national  Constitution  could  prohibit  or  in- 
terfere with  it  outside  of  State  lines.  The  Americans 
supporting  Bell  adhered  to  their  peculiar  doctrines 
touching  emigration  and  naturalization,  but  had 
abandoned,  in  most  of  the  States,  the  secrecy  and 
oaths  of  the  Know-Nothing  order.  They  were  evas- 
ive and  non-committal  on  the  slavery  (question. 

The  leaders  in  the  South  anticipated  defeat  at  the 
election,  and  many  of  them  made  preparations  for 


A  STREET  IN   NEW  ORLEANS   ON   AN   ELECTION   DAY. 


1 86  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  withdrawal  of  their  States  from  the  Union. 
Some  of  the  more  extreme  anti-slavery  men  of  the 
North,  noting  these  preparations,  for  a  time  favored 
a  plan  of  letting  the  South  go  in  peace.  South 
Carolina  was  the  first  to  adopt  a  secession  ordinance, 
and  before  it  did  so,  Horace  Greely  said  in  the  New 
York  Tribune: 

"  If  the  Declaration  of  Independence  justified  the 
secession  from  the  British  Empire  of  three  millions 
of  colonists  in  1776,  we  cannot  see  why  it  would  not 
justify  the  secession  of  five  millions  of  Southrons 
from  the  Federal  Union  in  1861." 

These  views  fell  into  disfavor  in  the  North,  and 
the  period  of  indecision  on  either  side  ceased  when 
Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon.  The  Gulf  States 
openly  made  their  preparations  as  soon  as  the  result 
of  the  Presidential  election  was  known. 

South  Carolina  naturally  led  off  in  the  secession 
movement.  Her  Senators  and  Representatives  re- 
signed from  Congress  early -in  November;  her  Ordi- 
nance of  Secession  was  unanimously  adopted  on  the 
1 7th  of  November,  1860.  The  other  Southern  States 
quickly  followed  her  example. 

The  Secession  Ordinance  passed  in  some  of  the 
States  by  the  vote  of  their  conventions,  where  they 
refused  to  submit  the  ordinance  to  a  popular  vote. 
In  others,  it  was  put  to  a  general  vote,  manipulated 
by  the  leaders,  and  in  all  cases  the  vote  was  over- 
whelmingly in  favor  of  the  separation.  In  several 
States  the  governors  ordered  a  repudiation  by  their 
citizens  of  all  debts  due  to  Northern  men. 

In  Maryland,  the  governor  declined  to  accept  the 


JAMES  BUCHANAN.  jgy 

programme  of  Secession.  Addresses  for  and  against 
were  frequent. 

The  Southern  Congress  met  on  February  4,  1861. 
Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia  was  elected  President  and 
announced  that  secession  "  is  now  a  fixed  and  irrevo- 
cable fact,  and  the  separation  is  perfect,  complete 
and  perpetual."  At  this  Congress  were  delegates 
from  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
Florida  and  Mississippi.  The  Texas  delegates  were 
not  appointed  until  February  14.  A  provisional 
Constitution  was  adopted,  being  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  with  some  changes.  Jefferson 
Davis,  of  Mississippi,  was  chosen  President,  and 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  Vice-President. 
The  laws  and  revenue  officers  of  the  United  States 
were  continued  in  the  Confederate  States  until 
changed.  Executive  departments  and  a  Confederate 
regular  army  were  organized,  and  provision  was 
made  for  borrowing  money  on  March  nth,  the  per- 
manent Constitution  was  adopted  by  Congress,  and 
the  first  Confederate  Congress  was  held,  sitting  from 
February  18,  1861,  to  April  21,  1862. 

In  the  first  Congress  members  chosen  by  rump 
State  conventions,  or  by  regiments  in  the  Confed- 
erate service,  sat  for  districts  in  Missouri  and 
Kentucky,  though  these  States  had  never  seceded. 
There  were  thus  thirteen  States  in  all  represented  at 
the  close  of  the  first  Congress  ;  but  as  the  area  of  the 
Confederacy  narrowed  before  the  advance  of  the 
Union  armies,  the  vacancies  in  the  second  Congress 
became  significantly  more  numerous.  At  its  best  the 
Confederate  Senate  numbered  26,  and  the  House  106. 


!88  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

For  four  months  between  the  Presidential  election 
and  the  inauguration  of  Lincoln  those  favoring 
secession  in  the  South  had  practical  control  of  their 
section,  for  while  Buchanan  hesitated  as  to  his  Con- 
stitutional powers,  the  more  active  partisans  in  his 
Cabinet  were  aiding  their  Southern  friends  in  every 
practical  way. 

The  Confederate  States  was  the  name  of  the 
government  formed  in  1861  by  the  seven  States 
which  first  seceded.  Belligerent  rights  were  ac- 
corded to  it  by  the  leading  naval  powers,  but  it  was 
never  recognized  as  a  government,  notwithstanding 
the  persevering  efforts  of  its  agents  at  the  principal 
courts.  Lewis  Cass  resigned  from  the  State  Depart- 
ment, December  12,  1860,  because  the  President 
declined  to  reinforce  the  forts  in  Charleston  Harbor. 
Ho  well  Cobb,  the  Treasury,  "because  his  duty  to 
Georgia  required  it." 

John  B.  Floyd  resigned  as  Secretary  of  War,  be- 
cause the  President  declined  "  to  withdraw  the  gar- 
rison from  the  harbor  of  Charleston  altogether."  Be- 
fore resigning  he  took  care  to  transfer  all  the  muskets 
and  rifles  from  the  Northern  armories  to  arsenals  in 
the  South.  All  of  these  arms,  except  those  sent  to 
the  North  Carolina  Arsenal,  were  seized  by  the  States 
of  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  Louisiana  and  Georgia, 
and  were  no  longer  in  possession  of  the  United 
States. 

Buchanan  appealed  to  Congress  to  institute  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  recognizing  the 
rights  of  the  Southern  States  in  regard  to  slavery  in 
the  Territories : 


^ku-K*" 

^^BSiu  *, 

•j- 

^*;v*  i"*1*-*-.-] 


BSS«& 

WAWt^jp**; 

THE  CONFEDERACY  INAUGURATED, 


189 


i  go 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


"  I  have  purposely  confined  my  remarks  to  revolu- 
tionary resistance,  because  it  has  been  claimed  within 
the  last  few  years  that  any  State,  whenever  this  shall 
be  its  sovereign  will  and  pleasure,  may  secede  from 
the  Union  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution,  and 
without  any  violation  of  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  other  members  of  the  Confederacy.  That  as 
each  became  parties  to  the  Union  by  the  vote  of  its 
own  people  assembled  in  convention,  so  any  one  of 
them  may  retire  from  the  Union  in  a  similar  manner 
by  the  vote  of  such  a  convention."  *  *  *  "  I  do  not 
believe  the  Federal  Government  has  the  power  to 
coerce  a  State." 

Senator  Crittenden  brought  forward  a  compromise 
proposition  suggesting  that  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution be  made  to  "  avert  the  danger  of  separation." 
Memorials  from  the  North  and  from  New  England 
poured  in  favoring  his  views.  The  President  ex- 
erted all  his  influence  in  favor  of  these  peace  meas- 
ures. In  his  special  Message  to  Congress,  January 
8,  1 86 1,  after  depicting  the  consequences  which  had 
already  resulted  to  the  country  from  the  bare  appre- 
hension of  civil  war  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
he  said  : 

"  Let  the  question  be  transferred  from  political 
assemblies  to  the  ballot-box,  and  the  people  them- 
selves would  speedily  redress  the  serious  grievances 
which  the  South  have  suffered.  But,  in  heaven's 
name,  let  the  trial  be  made  before  we  plunge  into 
armed  conflict  upon  the  mere  assumption  that  there 
is  no  other  alternative." 

This  recommendation  was  totally  disregarded.    The 


JAMES  BUCHANAN.  I9! 

refusal  to  pass  the  Crittenden  or  any  other  compro- 
mise heightened  the  excitement  in  the  South,  where 
many  showed  great  reluctance  to  dividing  the  Union. 
Georgia,  though  one  of  the  cotton  States,  under  the 
influence  of  conservative  men  like  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  showed  greater  concern  for  the  Union 
than  any  other,  and  it  took  all  the  influence  of  spirits 
like  that  of  Robert  Toombs  to  bring  her  to  favor 
secession.  She  was  the  most  powerful  of  the  cotton 
States  and  the  richest,  as  she  is  to-day. 

With  the  close  of  Buchanan's  Administration  all 
eyes  turned  to  Lincoln,  and  fears  were  entertained 
that  the  date  fixed  by  law  for  the  counting  of  the 
electoral  vote,  February  15,  1861,  would  inaugurate 
violence  and  bloodshed  at  the  seat  of  government. 
It  passed  peaceably.  Both  Houses  met  at  noon  in 
the  House,  Vice-President  Breckenridge  and  Speaker 
Pennington,  both  Democrats,  sitting  side  by  side, 
and  the  count  was  made  without  challenge  or  ques- 
tion. A  noted  author  of  the  time,  thus  epitomized 
the  situation  :  "  The  Democratic  Convention  of  1856 
nominated  Buchanan  for  the  Presidency  as  the  cham- 
pion of  slavery  ;  and  his  administration  was  conducted 
solely  in  the  interests  of  that  institution.  If  Bu- 
chanan had  any  generous  sympathies  for  liberty,  or 
aspirations  for  perpetuating  the  Republic,  he  gave  no 
'intimation  of  it  in  any  of  his  public  acts.  He  uttered 
no  rebuke  against  the  open  declaration  of  secession, 
and  his  most  trusted  counsellors  were  the  deepest 
plotters  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Union.  Even  while 
the  fires  of  rebellion  were  being  lighted,  he  plead 
impotency  to  quench  them.  And  thus,  with  the 


192  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

mingled  imputation  of  imbecility  and  treason,  he  re- 
tired from  Washington,  his  retreating  footsteps  almost 
lit  up  by  the  torch  of  the  incendiaries  who  were  set- 
ting fire  to  the  Capitol. 

After  his  retirement  from  office  he  resided  at 
Wheatland,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  June  i, 
1868. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN— 1861-1865. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  the  sixteenth  President,  was 
born  in  Kentucky  on  February  12,  1809.  Of  his 
early  years,  he  said  himself  in  1859:  "My  parents 
were  both  born  in  Virginia.  My  mother  died  in 
my  tenth  year.  When  I  came  of  age  I  did  not  know 
much.  I  could  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  rule 
of  three,  but  that  was  all.  The  little  advance  I  have 
now  I  picked  up  under  the  pressure  of  necessity.  At 
2i,  I  came  to  Illinois.  I  was  raised  to  farm-work, 
which  I  continued  till  I  was  22  years  old.  When 
the  Black  Hawk  War  came  on,  111-1832,  I  was  elected 
a  captain  of  volunteers.  In  1833  I  was  sent  to  the 
Legislature,  and  re-elected  for  three  succeeding 
te.rms.  During  my  legislative  period  I  studied  law, 
and  removed  to  Springfield  to  practise  it.  In  1846 
I  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  From 
1849  to  1854  I  practised  law.  I  was  always  a  Whig 
in  politics." 

In  1828  he  made  a  trading  voyage  on  a  flatboat 
to  New  Orleans.  Here  the  sight  of  slaves,  chained 
and  maltreated  and  flogged,  was  the  origin  of  his 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


193 


deep  convictions  on  the  slavery  question.  In  1854 
he  had  the  great  debate  with  Douglas.  From  this 
he  gained  great  popularity.  He  was  proposed  for  the 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN'S    EARLY   HOME- 

Senate   in   1855,  but  after  several   ballots    Lyman 
Trumbull  was  chosen. 

When  Fremont  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency, 
13 


194  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Lincoln  was  put  forward  for  the  Vice-Presidency, 
receiving  no  votes;  but  the  place  went  to  William 
L.  Dayton.  In  1858  he  ran  against  Douglas  for  the 
Senate  and  was  beaten.  In  1860  the  Republicans 
nominated  him  for  the  Presidency.  He  received  the 
votes  of  every  free  State,  while  the  votes  of  all  the 
slave  States  were  cast  against  him.  He  was  unim- 
peachably  elected,  and  on  March  4,  1861,  was  inau- 
gurated in  Washington,  surrounded  by  soldiers  under 
command  of  General  Scott ;  where  he  swore  to 
"faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,"  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  "pre- 
serve, protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States."  In  his  address  to  Congress  he  said: 
"\\\your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen, 
and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war. 
The  Government  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have 
no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  an  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy 
the  Government,  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn 
one  to  'preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it/  ' 

To  his  Cabinet  he  called  William  H.  Seward  of 
New  York  as  Secretary  of  State;  Salmon  P.  Chase 
of  Ohio  to  the  Treasury;  Simon  Cameron  of  Penn- 
sylvania to  the  War  Office,  and  Edward  Bates  of 
Missouri  was  made  Attorney-General.  These  gen- 
tlemen had  been  his  rivals  before  the  convention. 
The  most  eminent  of  these  men  was  Seward.  He 
was  then  about  60  years  old,  and  had  been  connected 
with  political  affairs  for  36  years.  His  principles 
were  those  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  lost  the 
nomination  because  it  was  feared  his  attitude  in  the 
slavery  struggles  would  be  too  violent.  When  the 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  ro^ 

"impending conflict"  had  come,  he  weakened  before 
the  threatened  danger  of  separation,  and  considered 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


that  "  the  Constitution  must  be  upheld  at  any  cost." 
This  lost  him  the  support  of  the  Abolition  clement 


196  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

ill  his  party,  who  denounced  him  as  a  trimmer.  He 
was  a  statesman  of  the  world,  and  not  disposed  to 
risk  his  ends  by  rashness  or  scorn  of  compromise. 
His  abilities  and  reputation  marked  him  out  for  the 
chief  post  under  the  administration,  and  his  name  will 
always  be  closely  associated  with  that  of  Lincoln.  He 
expressed  the  view  that  "all  troubles  will  be  over 
in  90  days."  Chase  represented  the  more  advanced 
anti-slavery  element.  Cameron,  with  a  large  busi- 
ness instinct,  saw  from  the  first  that  we  were  in  for  a 
prolonged  war,  in  which  the  superior  Northern  re- 
sources and  appliances  would  surely  win. 

On  March  5,  1861,  came  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  Confederate  Government  to  open 
negotiations  at  Washington.  Seward  refused  to  rec- 
ognize them  on  the  ground  that  the  States  were 
acting  illegally  and  in  defiance  of  the  Constitution. 
The  Commissioners  left  on  April  n,  after  addressing 
an  angry  communication  repeating  the  assertions 
with  regard  to  the  right  of  secession,  and  denying 
the  possibility  of  the  Government  ever  winning 
back  the  seceding  States,  or  subduing  them  by  force. 

Before  Lincoln  had  entered  office,  most  of  the 
Southern  forts,  arsenals,  docks,  custom  houses,  etc., 
had  been  seized,  and  now  that  preparations  were 
being  made  for  active  warfare  by  the  Confederacy, 
many  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  resigned  or 
deserted,  and  joined  it.  The  most  notable  was 
General  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  for  a  time  hesitated  as 
to  his  "duty,"  but  finally  went  with  his  State,  Vir- 
ginia. All  officers  were  permitted  to  go,  the  ad- 
ministration not  seeking  to  restrain  any,  under  the 
belief  that,  until  some  open  act  of  war  was  com- 


WILLIAM   H.   SfcWARD. 


197 


198  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

mitted,  it  ought  to  remain  on  the  defensive.  This 
was  wise  political  policy,  for  it  did  more  than  all 
else  to  hold  the  Border  States,  the  position  of  which 
Douglas  understood  fully  as  well  as  any  statesman 
of  that  hour. 

He  was  asked,  "What  will  be  the  result  of  the 
efforts  of  Jefferson  Davis,  and  his  associates,  to  di- 
vide the  Union?"  "Rising,  and  looking,  like 
one  inspired,  Douglas  replied,  '  The  cotton  States  are 
making  an  effort  to  draw  in  the  border  States  to 
their  schemes  of  secession,  and  I  am  but  too  fearful 
they  will  succeed.  If  they  do  succeed,  there  will  be 
the  most  terrible  civil  war  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
lasting  for  years.  Virginia  will  become  a  charnel 
house,  but  the  end  will  be  the  triumph  of  the  Union 
cause.  One  of  their  first  efforts  will  be  to  take  pos- 
session of  this  Capitol  to  give  them  prestige  abroad, 
but  they  will  never  succeed  in  taking  it — the  North 
will  rise  en  masse  to  defend  it;  but  Washington  will 
become  a  city  of  hospitals — the  churches  will  be 
used  for  the  sick  and  wounded.'  The  friend  to 
whom  this  was  said  inquired,  'What  justification 
for  all  this  ? '  Douglas  replied,  '  There  is  NO  justifica- 
tion, nor  any  pretence  of  any — if  they  remain  in  the 
Union,  I  will  go  as  far  as  the  Constitution  will  per- 
mit to  maintain  their  just  rights,  and  I  do  not  doubt 
a  majority  of  Congress  would  do  the  same.  But  if 
the  Southern  States  attempt  to  secede  from  this 
Union,  without  further  cause,  I  am  in  favor  of  their 
having  just  so  many  slaves,  and  just  so  much  slave 
territory,  as  they  can  hold  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  and  NO  MORE.'  " 

In  the  border  States  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


199 


Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Missouri  there  were  sharp 
political  contests  between  the  friends  of  secession 
and  of  the  Union.  Ultimately  the  Unionists  tri- 
umphed in  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri — in 


SALMON  P.   CHASE. 


the  latter  State  by  the  active  aid  of  U.  S.  troops — 
in  Maryland  and  Kentucky  by  military  orders  to 
arrest  any  members  of  the  Legislature  conspiring  to 
take  their  States  out.  In  Tennessee,  the  Union 


200  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

men,  under  the  lead  of  Governor  Andrew  Johnson, 
made  a  gallant  fight  to  keep  the  State  in,  and  they 
had  the  sympathy  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
East  Tennessee.  The  leading  Southerners  encour- 
aged the  timid  and  hesitating  by  saying  the  North 
would  not  make  war;  that  the  political  divisions 
would  be  too  great  there. 

When  the  news  flashed  along  the  wires  that  Suin- 
ter  had  been  fired  upon,  Lincoln  immediately  used 
his  war  powers  and  issued  a  call  for  75,000  troops. 
All  of  the  Northern  Governors  responded  with 
promptness  and  enthusiasm. 

The  Southerners  were  more  military  than  the 
Northerners;  they  were  accustomed  to  the  saddle 
and  the  use  of  firearms ;  the  Northerners  had  to 
learn  how  to  load  and  fire  a  gun  after  they  joined  the 
army.  Several  battles  of  little  consequence  were 
fought  to  secure  control  of  Western  Virginia.  The 
Northern  newspapers  were  clamoring  for  a  forward 
movement.  "On  to  Richmond,"  was  the  constant 
cry.  On  July  21,  1861,  was  fought  the  Battle  of 
Bull  Run.  It  was  a  severe  one  and  the  losses  on 
both  sides  were  heavy.  The  Confederates,  being  re- 
inforced at  the  right  moment,  routed  the  Union 
Army,  which  fled  back  to  Washington.  It  was  now 
realized  that  we  had  entered  into  a  war  in  earnest, 
and  on  July  22,  1861,  Congress  authorized  the  en- 
listment of  500,000  men,  for  a  period  not  exceeding 
three  years.  Other  large  requisitions  for  volunteers 
were  subsequently  made.  We  shall  not  attempt  to 
relate  the  history  of  the  battles  for  the  Union. 

The  last  great  battle  was  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsyl 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  2OI 

vania,  where  General  Lee  was  repulsed.  He  sur- 
rendered his  army  to  General  Grant  on  April  9,  1865. 
With  the  surrender  of  Lee,  the  last  hope  of  Southern 
independence  vanished. 

During  all  the  war  period  the  Union  newspapers 
published  accounts  of  all  the  movements  of  the 
armies ;  the  Confederates  were  constantly  supplied 
with  information  by  secession  sympathizers ;  attempts 


THE  CONFEDERATE  KI,AG. 

were  made  to  release  the  Confederate  prisoners  of 
war ;  infected  clothing  was  brought  from  Canada  and 
sold  in  New  York  and  elsewhere;  attempts  were 
made  to  burn  the  hotels  in  New  York  City.  Oppo- 
sition was  made  to  the  draft  there  and  a  riot  ensued. 
The  fury  of  the  mob  was  several  days  beyond  con- 
trol, and  troops  had  to  be  called  from  the  front  to 
suppress  it.  It  was  afterwards  ascertained  that  Con- 


202  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

federate  agents  really  organized  the  riot  as  a  move- 
ment to  "  take  the  enemy  in  the  rear." 

After  this  riot  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  was  determined  upon. 

The  Confederates  conscripted  all  white  men,  resi- 
dents of  their  States,  between  the  ages  of  17  and 
50 — as  it  was  said,  "everybody  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave."  Their  newspa- 
pers were  not  allowed  to  make  any  mention  of  the 
military  movements. 

In  March,  1862,  Lincoln  was  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  great  good  would  follow  compensated 
emancipation  in  the  Border  States,  and  he  suggested 
to  Congress  the  passing  of  such  a  law.  Various 
measures  relating  to  compensated  emancipation  were 
considered  in  both  Houses,  but  it  was  dropped  in 
March,  1863.  Lincoln  determined  upon  a  more  radi- 
cal policy,  and  on  September  22,  1862,  issued  his 
celebrated  proclamation  declaring  that  he  would  eman- 
cipate "  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or 
designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall 
be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  "—by  the 
first  of  January,  1863,  if  such  sections  were  not  "in 
good  faith  represented  in  Congress."  He  followed 
this  by  actual  emancipation  at  the  time  stated. 

These  proclamations  were  followed  by  many  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  the  Democrats  to  declare  then; 
null  and  void ;  but  all  such  were  tabled.  The  House, 
on  December  15,  1862,  endorsed  the  first  by  a  vote  of 
78  to  51,  almost  a  strict  party  vote.  Two  classed  as 
Democrats  voted  for  emancipation ;  seven  classed  as 
Republicans  voted  against  it. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  303 

On  July  14,  1862,  West  Virginia  was  admitted  into 
the  Union.  She  had  separated  in  the  early  years  of 
the  war  from  the  mother  State,  which  had  seceded. 

The  capture  of  New  Orleans  led  to  the  enrolment  of 
60,000  citizens  of  Louisiana  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  President  thereupon  appointed  a  Military 
Governor  for  the  entire  State,  and  this  Governor 
ordered  an  election  for  members  of  Congress  under 
the  old  State  Constitution.  This  was  held  December 
3,  1862,  when  Flanders  and  Hahn  were  returned, 
neither  receiving  3,000  votes.  They  received  certifi- 
cates, presented  them,  and  thus  opened  up  a  new  and 
grave  political  question.  The  Democrats  opposed 
their  admission.  The  vote  stood  92  for  to  44  against, 
almost  a  strict  party  test,  the  Democrats  voting  no. 

On  December  15,  1863,  was  passed  the  .first  Re- 
construction Act,  authorizing  the  President  to  ap- 
point in  each  of  the  States  declared  in  rebellion,  a 
Provisional  Governor;  to  be  charged  with  the  civil 
administration  until  a  State  government  therein  shall 
be  recognized. 

The  Presidential  election  of  1 864  came  round.  The 
Republicans  renominated  President  Lincoln  unan- 
imously, save  the  vote  of  Missouri,  which  was  cast 
for  General  Grant.  Hannibal  Hamlin  was  not  re- 
nominated,  because  of  a  desire  to  give  part  of  tr^e 
ticket  to  the  union  men  of  the  South,  who  pressed 
Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee.  There  was  some 
opposition  to  Lincoln's  second  nomination,  which 
was  dissipated  by  his  homely  remark  that  "  it  was 
bad  policy  to  swap  horses  in  crossing  a  stream." 
This  emphasized  the  general  belief. 


204 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


The  Democrats  nominated  General  George  B. 
McClellan  of  New  Jersey  for  President,  and  George 
H.  Pendleton  of  Ohio  for  Vice-President  General 
McClellan  was  made  available  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  through  certain  political  letters  which 


GENERAL  GEORGE  B.   McCLELLAN. 

he  had  written  on  points  of  difference  between  him- 
self and  the  Lincoln  Administration. 

The  Democratic  platform  carried  this  resolution, 
which  sufficiently  explains  its  attitude: 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  does  explicitly  de- 
clare, as  the  sense  of  the  American  people,  that  after 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


205 


four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union  by  the 
experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under  the  pretence 
of  a  military  necessity  of  a  war  power  higher  than 
the  Constitution,  the  Constitution  itself  has  been 
disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and 
private  right  alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material 
prosperity  of  the  country  essentially  impaired,  jus- 
tice, humanity,  liberty,  and  the  public  welfare  de- 
mand that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation 
of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention 
of  all  the  States,  or  other  peaceable  means,  to  the 
end  that,  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment,  peace 
may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union 
of  all  the  States. 

Lincoln's  views  were  well  known;  they  were  felt 
in  the  general  conduct  of  the  war.  The  campaign 
was  exciting,  and  was  watched  by  both  armies  with 
interest  and  anxiety.  In  this  election,  by  virtue  of 
an  act  of  Congress,  the  soldiers  in  the  field  were 
permitted  to  vote,  and  a  large  majority  of-  every 
branch  of  the  service  sustained  the  administration, 
though  two  ytars  before,  McClellan  had  been  the 
idol  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lincoln  and 
Johnson  received  212  electoral  votes,  against  21  for 
McClellan  and  Pendleton. 

In  President  Lincoln's  second  inaugural  address, 
delivered  on  March  4,  1865,  he  spoke  the  following 
words,  since  oft  quoted  as  typical  of  the  kindly  dis- 
position of  the  man  believed  by  his  party  to  be 
the  greatest  President  since  Washington:  "With 
malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firm- 
ness in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in, 


2o6  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

to  bind  up  the  Nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him 
who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow 
and  orphans — to  do  all  which  may  achieve  a  just 
and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all 
nations." 

April,  1865,  was  a  month  of  triumph  and  of  mourn- 
ing. In  its  earlier  days,  Richmond  was  occupied  by 
the  forces  of  the  Union,  and  Lee  surrendered  to 
Grant.  In  its  later  days,  Sherman  achieved  his 
final  success,  and  the  Confederacy,  except  in  a  few 
scattered  members,  lay  dead  before  its  foe.  But  be- 
tween those  two  sets  of  events  occurred  a  tragedy 
which  had  no  parallel  in  American  annals,  which 
convulsed  the  nation  with  rage  and  grief.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  records  of  the  Republic,  political 
assassination  struck  down  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  sought  with  hasty  and  murderous  hands 
to  settle  the  great  problems  of  the  day. 

Lincoln  had  entered  on  his  second  term  not  more 
than  six  weeks  when  the  bullet  of  an  ^  assassin  closed 
his  mortal  career.  He  had  nearly  seen  the  end  of  the 
great  contest  for  which  his  first  election  served  as  the 
pretext;  but  many  difficulties  yet  remained  to  be 
overcome.  The  roughly-hewn,  shaggy,  uncouth  face 
brightened  now  and  then  with  its  pleasant  and  genial 
smile ;  but  the  lines  were  more  deeply  furrowed  than 
they  had  been  a  few  years  before,  and  the  shadows  of 
vast  responsibilities  gave  something  of  sublimity  to 
features  that  were  homely  in  themselves. 

Lincoln  visited  Ford's  theatre  in  Washington 
where  he  was  shot  in  the  head  by  an  actor  named 


ANDREW  JOHNSON.  2o; 

Wilkes  Booth.  Booth  fled  to  Virginia,  where  he  was 
hunted  down  by  a  party  of  cavalry  and  shot. 

Lincoln  lingered  for  several  hours,  but  on  the 
morning  of  April  i5th,  he  breathed  his  last.  About 
the  same  time  that  the  murder  of  the  President  was 
being  committed,  an  attempt  was  made  to  assassinate 
Secretary  Seward. 

In  the  agitation  of  the  public  mind  consequent  on 
these  daring  and  extraordinary  crimes,  it  was  not 
unreasonably  believed  that  a  vast  conspiracy  had 
been  planned  by  Southern  politicians,  to  effect  by 
murder  what  they  could  not  accomplish  by  military 
force. 

The  funeral  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  conducted 
with  unexampled  solemnity  and  magnificence.  The 
coffin  was  carried  on  a  huge  catafalque,  where  it 
could  be  viewed  by  the  multitudes  in  the  various 
cities  through  which  the  funeral  cortege  passed,  on 
its  way  from  Washington  to  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery, 
near  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  he  was  buried  May 
4,  1865.  His  remains  were  placed  in  an  appropriate 
tomb  on  October  15,  1874. 


ANDREW  JOHNSON— 1865-1869. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON,  our  seventeenth  President, 
was  inaugurated  on  the  same  morning  that  Lincoln 
died.  No  man  thus  called  to  administer  a  great 
Government  could  have  satisfied  his  party ;  and  he 
went  through  his  term  with  little  peace  or  success. 


2o8  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

He  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  December  29, 
1808.  He  was  born  in  the  obscurest  poverty,  and 
received  no  schooling.  At  ten  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  tailor.  While  a  young  man,  he  started  for 
Tennessee  with  his  widowed  mother  to  find  a  home. 
Ambitious  to  better  his  condition,  he  became  his 
own  teacher.  Marrying  a  girl  of  superior  intelli- 
gence, she  taught  him  to  write  and  cipher.  He 
dashed  into  local  politics;  he  rose  steadily,  step  by 
step,  to  the  State  Senate;  then  to  Congress,  where 
he  remained  ten  years.  He  was  twice  elected  Gov- 
ernor of  Tennessee,  and  in  1857  was  sent  to  the 
Senate.  Thus  his  acquaintance  with  political  life 
was  not  small,  or  wanting  in  variety.  Like  most 
self-made  men,  he  was  a  little  ostentatious  in  talking 
about  his  plebeian  origin,  and  of  what  he  owed  to 
the  people.  But  his  conduct  in  the  Senate  showed 
him  to  be  a  man  of  sense  and  moderation.  He  car- 
ried through  the  Homestead  Law,  for  which  his 
name  is  gratefully  remembered  in  many  homes 
throughout  the  broad  West.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  war  Lincoln  appointed  him  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor of  Tennessee,  where  he  distinguished  himself 
by  vigor  and  resolution,  and  nerved  the  hunted 
friends  of  the  Union. 

At  the  start  of  his  Presidential  career  he  seemed 
to  range  himself  on  the  side  of  the  most  extreme 
Northern  politicians,  and  against  those  who  were  in 
favor  of  adopting  a  more  conciliatory  policy  towards 
the  South — an  impression  which  his  subsequent  con- 
duct entirely  removed.  He  said  the  time  had  arrived 
when  the  American  people  should  understand  that 
treason  was  a  crime.  To  the  mass  of  the  misled  he 


ANDRE  W  JOHNSON. 


209 


would  say,   "Mercy,  clemency,  reconciliation,  and 
the  restoration  of  local  government;"    but  to  the 


ANDREW  JOHNSON. 


conscious,  influential  traitor,  who  had  attempted  to 
destroy  the  life  of  the  nation,  he  would  say:  "On 


210  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

you  be  inflicted  the  severest  penalty  of  your  crime. 
Mercy  without  justice  would  in  itself  be  criminal." 
From  evidence  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Justice, 
he  thought  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  the  attempted  assassination  of  Win.  H.  Seward, 
had  been  procured  by  Jefferson  Davis,  Clement  C. 
Clay,  Jacob  Thompson,  and  "other  rebels  and  trai- 
tors harbored  in  Canada."  The  evidence,  however, 
showed  that  the  scheme  was  harebrained,  and  from 
no  responsible  political  source.  The  proclamation, 
however,  gave  keenness  to  the  search  for  the  fugitive 
Davis,  and  he  was  captured  while  making  his  way 
through  Georgia  to  the  Florida  coast,  with  the  in- 
tention of  escaping  from  the  country.  He  was  im- 
prisoned in  Fortress  Monroe,  and  an  indictment  for 
treason  was  found  against  him;  but  he  remained  a 
close  prisoner  for  nearly  two  years,  until  times  when 
political  policies  had  been  changed  or  modified. 
Horace  Greeley  was  one  of  his  bondsmen.  By  this 
time  there  was  grave  doubt  whether  he  could  be 
legally  convicted,  now  that  the  charge  of  inciting 
Booth's  crime  had  been  tacitly  abandoned.  Webster 
(in  his  Bunker  Hill  oration)  had  only  given  clearer 
expression  to  the  American  doctrine,  that,  after  a 
revolt  has  levied  a  regular  army,  and  fought  there- 
with a  pitched  battle,  its  champions,  even  though 
utterly  defeated,  cannot  be  tried  and  convicted  as 
traitors.  This  may  be  an  extreme  statement;  but  a 
rebellion  which  has  for  years  maintained  great 
armies,  levied  taxes  and  conscriptions,  negotiated 
loans,  fought  scores  of  sanguinary  battles  with  alter- 
nate successes  and  reverses,  and  exchanged  tens  of 
thousands  of  prisoners  of  war,  can  hardly  fail  to 


ANDRE  W  JOHNSON.  2 1 1 

have  achieved  thereby  the  position  and  the  rights 
of  a  lawful  belligerent. 

This  view,  as  then  presented  by  Greeley,  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  President,  who  from  intemperate 
denunciation  had  become  the  friend  of  his  old 
friends  in  the  South.  Greeley' s  view  was  not  gen- 
erally accepted  by  the  North,  though  most  of  the 
leading  men  of  both  parties  hoped  the  responsibility 
of  a  trial  would  be  avoided  by  the  escape  and  flight 
of  the  prisoner.  But  he  was  confident  by  this  time, 
and  sought  a  trial.  He  was  never  tried,  and  the 
best  reason  for  the  fact  is  that  no  conviction  was 
possible,  except  by  packing  a  jury. 

On  April  29,  1865,  Johnson  issued  a  proclamation 
removing  all  restrictions  upon  internal,  domestic  and 
coastwise  and  commercial  intercourse  in  all  Southern 
States  east  of  the  Mississippi ;  the  blockade  was  re- 
moved May  22,  and  on  May  29  a  proclamation  of 
amnesty  was  issued,  with  fourteen  classes  excepted 
therefrom,  and  the  requirement  of  an  "ironclad 
oath"  from  those  accepting  its  provisions.  Procla- 
mations rapidly  followed  in  shaping  the  lately  rebel- 
lious States  to  the  conditions  of  peace  and  restoration 
to  the  Union.  These  States  were  required  to  hold 
conventions,  repeal  secession  ordinances,  accept  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  repudiate  Southern  war  debts, 
provide  for  Congressional  representation,  and  elect 
new  State  officers  and  legislatures.  The  several 
Constitutional  amendments  were,  of  course,  to  be 
ratified  by  a  vote  of  the  people.  These  conditions 
were  eventually  a"ll  complied  with,  some  of  the  States 
beinsf  more  tardv  than  others. 


212  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

It  is  not  partisanship  to  say  that  Johnson's  views 
underwent  a  change.  So  radical  had  this  difference 
become  that  he  vetoed  nearly  all  of  the  political  bills 
passed  by  the  Republicans  from  1866  until  the  end 
of  his  administration,  but  such  was  the  Republican 
preponderance  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  that  they 
passed  them  over  his  head  by  the  necessary  two-thirds 
vote.  He  vetoed  the  several  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bills, 
the  Civil  Rights  Bill,  that  for  the  admission  of  Ne- 
braska and  Colorado,  the  Bill  to  permit  Colored 
Suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  one  of  the 
Reconstruction  Bills,  and  finally  made  a  direct  issue 
with  the  powers  of  Congress  by  his  veto  of  the  Civil 
Tenure  Bill. 

General  Butler  charged  the  President  with  "at- 
tempting to  bring  Congress  into  disgrace,  ridicule, 
hatred,  contempt,  and  reproach,  and  with  delivering 
intemperate,  inflammatory,  and  scandalous  har- 
angues, accompanied  by  threats  and  bitter  menaces 
against  Congress  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States." 
Assuredly  nothing  could  be  more  reprehensible  than 
the  language  employed  by  the  President  on  many 
public  occasions  in  characterizing  Congress  as  a 
"  rump "  and  charging  in  substance  that  they  were 
not  a  Congress  authorized  to  execute  legislative 
power,  but  on  the  contrary,  represented  only  part  of 
the  States.  It  was  therefore  resolved  to  impeach  him. 

The  impeachment  trial  began  on  March  30,  1866. 
There  being  27  States  represented,  there  were  54 
Senators,  who  constituted  the  court,  presided  over 
by  Chief  Justice  Chase.  Many  of  the  speeches  for 
and  against  the  impeachment  were  distinguished  by 


ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

great  brilliancy  and  power.  The  vote  resulted  in 
35  for  conviction  and  19  for  acquittal.  The  Consti- 
tution requiring-  a  vote  of  two-thirds  to  convict,  the 
President  was  therefore  acquitted.  And  so  the  trial 
ended. 

The  political  differences  between  the  President 
and  the  Republicans  were  not  softened  by  the  at- 
tempted impeachment,  and  singularly  enough  the 
failure  of  their  effort  did  not  weaken  the  Republi- 
cans as  a  party.  They  were  so  well  united  that 
those  who  disagreed  with  them  passed,  at  least  tem- 
porarily, from  public  life,  some  of  the  ablest,  like 
Senators  Trumbull  and  Fessenden,  retiring  perma- 
nently. The  President  pursued  his  policy,  save 
where  he  was  hedged  by  Congress,  until  the  end, 
and  retired  to  his  native  State  after  Grant  was  inau- 
gurated on  March  4,  1869.  He  tried  to  get  back  to 
the  Senate  in  1870,  but  was  defeated;  he  was,  how- 
ever, elected  in  1875,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  extra 
session  in  March.  Great  expectations  were  built 
upon  his  return  to  the  Senate,  but  he  died  ere  the 
anticipations  could  be  fulfilled,  on  July  31,  1875. 
He  was  buried  at  Greenville,  Tennessee. 

In  1867,  Secretary  Seward  obtained  an  important 
addition  to  our  territory  by  the  purchase  of  Russian 
America,  in  the  extreme  north-west  of  the  continent, 
for  $7,000,000.  This  is  called  Alaska;  and  is  on 
the  other  side  of  Canada.  Some  dissatisfaction  was 
found  with  the  purchase,  as  being  of  little  commer- 
cial value,  with  Canada  separating  the  two  sections; 
but  Canada,  by  the  irresistible  force  of  events,  is 
destined  at  no  very  distant  day  to  voluntarily  annex 
herself  to  the  United  States,  to  participate  in  the 


214 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


enormous  advantage  sure  to  accrue  to  her  by  such 
union.  Then  the  entire  northern  continent  is  ours. 
While  our  war  was  progressing,  Napoleon  III  of 
France,  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  an  empire 
in  Mexico. 
An  Austrian 
archduke, 
Maximilian, 
had  been  en- 
throned with 
French  sol- 
diers to  sup- 
port hisoccu- 
pation.  This 
was  an  in- 
vasion of 
our  "Monroe 
Doctrine" 
principle  ; 
but  we  could 
take  but  lit- 
tle notice  of 
what  was  go- 
ing on  out- 
side our  own 
Union.  At 
the  end  of 
1865  a  pro- 
test was  made.  Napoleon  withdrew  his  troops  dur- 
ing 1866.  Juarez,  the  President  of  the  Republic 
of  Mexico,  compelled  Maximilian  to  surrender,  May 
15,  1867;  he  was  condemned  by  a  council  of  war, 
and  shot  on  June  19,  1867;  and  this  ended  the  short- 


SEYMOUR   AND   BLAIR. 


ANDREW  JOHNSON.  215 

lived  Mexican  Empire.  The  fact  that  Napoleon 
withdrew  his  troops  at  the  bidding  of  President 
Johnson,  and  that  the  empire  thereupon  tumbled 
into  ruins,  was  certainly  a  great  triumph  of  Ameri- 
can policy. 

The  Republican  Convention  nominated  with  una- 
nimity, General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  for 
President,  and  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  for 
Vice-President.  The  Democratic  Convention  met 
in  New  York  City,  July  4.  Governor  Horatio  Sey- 
mour, of  New  York,  was  nominated  for  President  on 
the  22d  ballot,  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri, 
for  Vice-President 

Grant  carried  all  of  the  States  save  eight,  receiving 
an  electoral  vote  of  214  against  80. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT— 1869-1877. 

ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT,  the  eighteenth  Presi- 
dent, was  descended  from  Scotch  ancestors,  and  born 
in  Ohio,  April  27,  1822,  and  was  the  youngest 
elected  President.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Having  acquired  the  rudiments  of  educa- 
tion at  a  common  school,  and  having  a  taste  for 
military  life,  he  was  sent  to  West  Point  in  1839. 
He  was  a  diligent  student,  but  not  bright  and  grad- 
uated in  1843,  standing  twenty-first  in  a  class  of 
thirty-nine.  He  was  made  a  brevet-lieutenant  of 
infantry,  and  attached  to  the  Fourth  Regiment,  his 
regiment  being  ordered  to  Texas,  to  join  the  army 
of  General  Taylor.  Our  young  lieutenant  fought  his 
first  battle  at  Palo  Alto.  He  was  also  in  the  battles 


2i6  LIVES    OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

at  Resaca,  Monterey,  and  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz. 
At  Molina  del  Rey,  he  was  appointed  on  the  field  a 
first  lieutenant  for  his  gallantry;  and  for  his  conduct 
at  Chapultepec  he  was  breveted  a  captain.  In  1854 
he  resigned,  and  attempted  various  kinds  of  business 
without  success.  In  1848  he  married.  On  the  first 
call  for  troops  to  suppress  the  Rebellion,  he  marched 
in  command  of  a  company  of  volunteers  to  Spring- 
field. He  was  appointed  a  colonel  in  June,  and  be- 
came a  brigadier-general  in  August,  1861.  He  rose 
to  Lieutenant-General  in  March,  1864,  when  he  had 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Republic,  which 
then  numbered  nearly  750,000  men.  In  this  new 
position  his  unrivalled  generalship  was  fully  dis- 
played. Having  brought  the  war  to  an  end,  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  General — specially  created 
— and  took  his  proper  station  by  the  side  of  the  great 
"Captains  of  the  World."  He  was  triumphantly 
elected  to  the  Presidency  in  1868;  inaugurated 
March  4,  1869;  and  re-elected  four  years  later. 

His  first  battle  in  the  Rebellion  was  fought  at 
Belmont,  Missouri,  on  November/,  1861.  Both  sides 
claimed  the  victory.  In  February,  1862,  he  took 
Fort  Henry,  and  a  week  later  Fort  Donelson,  which 
was  garrisoned  with  20,000  men.  It  was  here  that 
he  used  his  celebrated  sentence,  "No  terms  other 
than  unconditional,  immediate  surrender  can  be  ac- 
cepted. I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your 
works."  The  fort  surrendered,  and  Grant  was  at 
once  made  a  Major-General.  He  was  now  styled 
"  Unconditional  Surrender  Grant."  On  July  4, 
1863,  Vicksburg  was  captured,  causing  great  exulta- 
tion among  the  friends  of  the  Union.  He  was 


ULYSSES  S.    GRANT. 


217 


rewarded  for  this  service  by  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  Major-General  in  the  Regular  Army.     Captain 


UI.YSSKS   S.    GRANT. 


Porter  and  the  gunboats  co-operated  in  this  capture 
Up  to  this  time  Grant  had  taken  90,000  prisoners'; 


2i8  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

while  disaster  seemed  to  follow  all  the  commanders 
operating  against  Richmond.  On  March  12,  1864, 
he  was  appointed  commander  of  all  the  armies.  He 
himself  directed  the  army  in  Virginia,  battling  with 
Robert  E.  Lee;  and  sent  William  T.  Sherman  to 
oppose  the  other  Confederate  army  operating  in 
Georgia,  and  commanded  by  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 
Philip  H.  Sheridan  commanded  all  of  the  cavalry 
in  Grant's  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lee  and  Johnston 
were  trained  West  Point  soldiers;  able,  alert,  and 
indefatigable.  On  May  5,  1864,  Grant's  army  met 
the  enemy  in  the  great  but  indecisive  battle  of  the 
Wilderness.  On  June  3,  he  attacked  the  enemy's 
works  at  Cold  Harbor,  but  was  repulsed  with  heavy 
loss.  He  remained  nearly  inactive  before  Peters- 
burg during  the  winter  of  1864-1865;  but  Sherman 
continued  moving  up  from  Georgia  to  Virginia.  It 
had  now  got  to  be,  as  was  expressed  by  the  Demo- 
cratic press,  "  a  mere  question  of  bloody  arithmetic." 
Lee  was  surrounded;  his  army  were  starving;  it  was 
criminal  to  pursue  the  contest  any  longer.  Richmond 
was  evacuated  April  2,  and  on  the  ninth  of  April, 
1865,  Lee  surrendered  at  Appomattox  Court  House, 
Virginia  ;  after  which  the  insurgents  everywhere 
gave  up  the  contest.  On  his  election  to  the  Presi- 
dency he  resigned  his  supreme  rank  to  General 
Sherman. 

The  war  debt  at  the  end  of  1865  was  three  billions 
of  dollars — to  say  nothing  of  the  frightful  loss  of 
life.  Such  was  the  enormous  cost  which  the  slave- 
holders' rebellion  imposed  upon  the  land;  but  the 
end  has  been  attained,  and  the  people  had  sufficient 
confidence  in  the  elasticity  of  our  resources  to  bear 


ULYSSES  S.    GRANT. 


219 


with  cheerfulness  this  burden,  which  a  few  years  had 
accumulated,  on  their  shoulders. 

Grant  was  inaugurated,  and  the  Congressional 
plan  of  reconstruction  was  rapidly  pushed,  with  at 
first  very  little  opposition  save  that  manifested  by 
the  Democrats  in  Congress.  The  conditions  of  re- 
admission  were  the  ratification  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  constitutional  amendments. 

On  February  25,  1869,  the  fifteenth  amendment 
was  added  to  the  list  by  its  adoption  in  Congress  and 
submission  to  the  States.  It  conferred  the  right  of 
suffrage  on  all  citizens,  without  distinction  of  "  race, 
color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  By  March 
30,  1870,  it  was  ratified  by  twenty-nine  States,  the 
required  three-fourths  of  all  in  the  Union.  The  issue 
was  shrewdly  handled,  and  in  most  instances  met 
Legislatures  ready  to  receive  it.  Many  of  the  South- 
ern States  were  specially  interested  in  its  passage, 
since  a  denial  of  suffrage  would  •  abridge  their  repre- 
sentation in  Congress.  This  was,  of  course,  true  of 
all  the  States ;  but  its  force  was  indisputable  in  sec- 
tions containing  large  colored  populations. 

The  4ist  Congress  met  December  4,  1869,  and 
before  its  close  Virginia,  Georgia,  Texas  and  Missis- 
sippi had  all  complied  with  the  conditions  of  recon- 
struction, and  were  re-admitted  to  the  Union.  This 
practically  completed  the  work  of  reconstruction. 

Congress  met  December  5,  1870.  Grant's  Mes- 
sage discussed  a  new  question,  and  advocated  the 
annexation  of  San  Domingo  to  the  United  States. 
A  treaty  had  been  negotiated  between  President 
Grant  and  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  San 


220  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Domingo,  September  4,  1869,  but  it  was  rejected  by 
the  Senate.  The  question  had  no  political  signifi- 
cance. No  territory  could  be  annexed  without  a 
treaty,  and  this  must  be  ratified  by  two-thirds  of 
the  Senate  ;  and  as  this  could  not  be  commanded, 
the  project  was  dropped.  It  has  not  since  attracted 
any  attention. 

The  long-disputed  Alabama  Claims  of  the  United 
States  against  Great  Britain,  arising  from  the  depre- 
dations of  the  Anglo-rebel  privateers,  built  and  fitted 
out  and  manned  in  British  waters,  were  referred  by 
the  Treaty  of  Washington,  dated  May  8,  1871,  to 
arbitrators,  and  this  was  the  first  and  most  signal 
triumph  of  the  plan  of  arbitration,  so  far  as  the 
United  States  was  concerned.  The  arbitrators  were 
appointed,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Governments  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  from  these 
powers,  and  from  Brazil,  Italy,  and  Switzerland. 
On  September  14,  .1872,  they  gave  to  the  United 
States  gross  damages  to  the  amount  of  $15,500,000. 

The  Civil  Service  Reform  Bill  was  passed  at  this 
session.  When  first  proposed,  partisan  politics  had 
no  part  or  place  in  civil  service  reform,  and  the 
author  of  the  plan  was  himself  a  distinguished  Re- 
publican. In  fact,  both  parties  thought  something 
good  had  been  reached,  and  there  was  practically  no 
resistance  at  first  to  a  trial. 

Efforts  were  made  to  pass  bills  to  remove  the  po- 
litical disabilities  of  former  Southern  rebels.  All 
such  efforts  were  defeated  by  the  Republicans.  The 
Amnesty  Bill,  however,  was  passed  May  22,  1872, 
after  an  agreement  to  exclude  from  its  provisions  all 
who  held  the  higher  military  and  civic  positions 


ULYSSES  S.    GRANT,  22i 

under  the  Confederacy — in  all  about  350  persons. 
Subsequently  acts  removing  the  disabilities  of  all 
save  Jefferson  Davis  were  passed. 

An  issue  raised  in  Missouri  gave  rise  to  the  Liberal 
Republican  party.  In  1870  the  Republican  party, 
then  in  control  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri,  split 
into  two  parts  on  the  question  of  the  removal  of  the 
disqualifications  imposed  upon  rebels  by  the  State 
Constitution  during  the  war.  Those  favoring  the 
removal  of  disabilities  were  headed  by  B.  Gratz 
Brown  and  Carl  Schurz,  and  they  called  themselves 
Liberal  Republicans;  those  opposed  were  called  and 
accepted  the  name  of  Radical  Republicans.  The 
former  quickly  allied  themselves  with  the  Demo- 
crats, and  thus  carried  the  State,  though  Grant's 
administration  backed  the  Radicals  with  all  the 
power  of  the  Government.  As  a  result  the  disabilities 
were  removed,  and  the  Liberals  sought  to  promote 
a  reaction  in  Republican  sentiment  all  over  the 
country.  Greeley  was  the  recognized  head  of  this 
movement,  and  he  was  ably  aided  by  leading  Re- 
publicans in  nearly  all  of  the  States,  who  at  once 
began  to  lay  plans  to  carry  the  next  Presidential 
election. 

They  charged  that  the  Enforcement  Acts  of  Con- 
gress were  designed  ^nore  for  the  political  advance- 
ment of  Grant's  adherents  than  for  the  benefit  of  the 
country;  that  instead  o\  suppressing  they  were  cal- 
culated to  promote  a  war  of  races  in  the  South ;  that 
Grant  was  seeking  the  establishment  of  a  military 
despotism,  etc.  These  leaa  *rs  were  all  brilliant  men. 

In  the  spring  of  1871  the  Liberal  Republicans 
and  Democrats  of  Ohio  prepared  for  a  fusion,  and 


222 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


after  frequent  consultations  of  the  various  leaders 
with  Mr.  Greeley,  a  call  was  issued  from  Missouri 
on  January  24,  1872,  for  a  Convention  of  the  Liberal 


/  /  °  /   /    •'        />" 

HORACE  GREELEY. 


Republican  party  to  be  held  at  Cincinnati,  May  i. 
The  well-matured  plans  of  the  leaders  were  carried 
out  in  the  nomination  of  Horace  Greeley,  of  New 


ULYSSES  S.    GRANT.  223 

York,  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  for  Presi- 
dent, and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice- 
President,  though  not  without  a  serious  struggle 
over  the  chief  nomination,  which  was  warmly  con- 
tested by  the  friends  of  Charles  Francis  Adams. 

The  original  leaders  now  prepared  to  capture  the 
Democratic  Convention.  By  nearly  a  unanimous 
vote  it  was  induced  to  endorse  the  Cincinnati  platform, 
and  it  likewise  finally  endorsed  'Greeley  and  Brown 
—though  not  without  many  bitter  protests.  A  few 
straight-out  Democrats  met  later  and  nominated 
Charles  O'Conor,  of  New  York,  for  President,  and 
John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice- 
President,  and  these  were  kept  in  the  race  to  the 
end,  receiving  a  popular  vote  of  about  30,000. 

The  regular  Republican  Convention  renominated 
President  Grant  unanimously,  and  Henry  Wilson, 
of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.  This  change 
to  Wilson  was  to  favor  the  solid  Republican  States 
of  New  England,  and  to  prevent  both  candidates 
coming  from  the  West. 

Grant  and  Wilson  received  nearly  3,600,000  popu- 
lar votes,  while  Greeley  and  Brown  polled  2,835,000 
votes.  Grant  and  Wilson  receiving  286  electoral 
votes  to  47  only  for  Greeley  and  Brown,  they  were 
declared  elected  and  duly  inaugurated,  March  4, 
1873.  Horace  Greeley  died  soon  afterwards  in  an 
insane  asylum.  The  Tribune,  the  national  organ  of 
the  Republicans  for  30  years,  lost  caste,  and  this, 
and  the  defeat  for  the  Presidency,  unbalanced  poor 
Greeley 's  mind. 

By  1874  the  Democrats  of  the  South,  who  then 
generally  classed  themselves  as  Conservatives,  had 


224 


LIVES  OF   THE  PRESIDENTS. 


gained  control  of  all  the  State  Governments  except 
those  of  Louisiana,  Florida  and  South  Carolina.  In 
nearly  all,  the  Republican  Goverments  had  called 
upon  President  Grant  for  military  aid  in  maintaining 
their  positions,  but  this  was  declined  except  in  the 


CHARLES  O' CONOR. 


presence  of  such  outbreaks  as  the  proper  State  au- 
thorities could  not  suppress.  In  Arkansas,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  and  Texas,  Grant  declined  to  interfere. 
The  cry  came  from  the  Democratic  partisans  in  the 
South  for  home-rule ;  another  came  from  the  negroes 


ULYSSES  S    GRANT. 


225 


that  they  were  constantly  disfranchised,  intimidated 
and  assaulted  by  the  White  League,  a  body  of  men 
organized  in  the  Gulf  States  for  the  purpose  of  break- 
ing up  the  "  carpet-bag  government" 


PETER  COOPER. 

On  July  i,  1876,  the  Centennial  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  greeted  with  rejoicing  in  every 
town  and  city  in  the  land.  On  May  10,  the  Cen- 
tennial Exposition,  in  Philadelphia,  was  opened  by 
General  Grant.  For  six  years  preparations  had  been 


226  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

making  to  have  an  exhibition  designed  to  show  the 
nation's  progress  during  its  first  century  of  existence. 
All  the  world  was  invited  to  contribute  examples  of 
their  products  and  industries.  It  was  the  largest 
display  of  the  kind  made  up  to  that  time,  the  cov- 
ered space  being  over  60  acres,  and  the  cost  of  the 
buildings  was  over  $6,000,000.  It  was  open  for  six 
months;  and  great  crowds  gathered  from  all  over 
the  world  to  examine  the  myriads  of  objects  ex- 
hibited. There  were  30,000  exhibitors;  33  foreign 
countries  were  represented;  over  10,000,000  visitors 
gathered  there;  and  the  admission  receipts  ran  up 
to  $4,000,000. 

Colorado  was  admitted  as  the  38th  State  on 
August  i,  1776. 

Our  original  13  States,  with  their  population  of 
4,000,000,  had  grown  to  38  States  with  nearly 
60,000,000  people,  and  wealth,  comfort  and  educa- 
tion and  art  flourished  in  still  larger  proportion. 

The  people  had  grown  tired  of  Credit  Mobilier, 
Whiskey  Ring,  Indian  Tradership,  Salary  Grab,  and 
other  scandals;  and  some  sort  of  a  change  was  im- 
peratively demanded.  As  a  consequence  the  44th- 
Congress,  which  met  in  December,  1875,  had  been 
changed  by  what  was  called  "  the  tidal  wave,"  from 
Republican  to  Democratic,  and  Michael  C.  Kerr,  of 
Indiana,  was  elected  Speaker.  The  Senate  re- 
mained Republican,  but  with  a  reduced  margin. 

The  troubles  in  the  South,  and  the  almost  general 
overthrow  of  the  "carpet-bag  government,"  im- 
pressed all  with  the  fact  that  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion of  1876  would  be  exceedingly  close  and  excit- 
ing, and  the  result  confirmed  this  belief.  The 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT.  227 

Greenbackers  were  the  first  to  meet  and  Peter 
Cooper,  of  New  York,  was  nominated  for  President, 
and  Samuel  F.  Gary,  of  Ohio,  for  Vice-President. 

The  Republicans  met,  with  James  G.  Elaine  recog- 
nized as  the  leading  candidate.  Grant  had  been 
named  for  a  third  term,  and  there  was  a  belief  that 
his  name  would  be  presented.  Such  was  the  feel- 
ing on  this  question  that  the  Houses  of  Congress  and 
a  Republican  State  Convention  in  Pennsylvania 
had  passed  resolutions  declaring  that  a  third  term 
for  President  would  be  a  violation  of  the  "  unwritten 
law"  handed  down  through  the  examples  from 
Washington  to  Jackson.  His  name,  however,  was 
not  then  presented.  The  "unit  rule"  at  this  con- 
vention was  for  the  first  time  resisted,  and  by  the 
friends  of  Blaine,  with  a  view  to  release  from  in- 
structions of  State  Conventions  some  of  his  friends. 
New  York  had  instructed  for  Conkling  and  Pennsyl- 
vania for  Hartranft.  The  chairman  decided  against 
the  binding  force  of  the  unit  rule,  and  to  assert  the 
liberty  of  each  delegate  to  vote  as  he  pleased.  The 
Convention  sustained  the  decision  on  an  appeal. 

The  balloting  is  here  appended. 

ist  Ballot.  2d.  3d.  4th.  5th.  6th.       7th. 

Blaine 285  296  292  293  287  308        351 

Conkling  ..  113  114  121  126  114  HI          21 

Bristow 99  93  90  84  82          81 

Morton  124  120  113  108  95          85 

Hartranft  . .    58  63  68  71  69          50 

Hayes 61  64  67  68  102  113        384 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  was  nominated  for 
President,  and  Win.  A.  Wheeler,  of  New  York,  for 
Vice-President. 


228  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  Democrats  met  at  St.  Louis.  Both  the 
unit  and  the  two-thirds  rule  were  observed  in  this 
body.  On  the  second  ballot,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of 
New  York,  had  535  votes  to  203  for  all  others.  His 
leading  competitor  was  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of 
Indiana,  who  was  nominated  for  Vice-President. 

In  the  election  that  followed,  Hayes  and  Wheeler 
carried  all  the  Northern  States  except  Connecticut, 
New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Indiana  ;  Tilden  and 
Hendricks  carried  all  of  the  Southern  States  except 
South  Carolina,  Florida  and  Louisiana.  The  three 
last-named  States  were  claimed  by  the  Democrats, 
but  the  members  of  the  Congressional  Investigating 
Committee  quieted  rival  claims  as  to  South  Carolina 
by  agreeing  that  it  had  fairly  chosen  the  Republican 
electors.  So  close  was  the  result  that  success  or 
failure  hinged  upon  the  returns  of  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  and  for  days  and  weeks  conflicting  stories 
and  claims  came  from  these  States.  The  Demo- 
crats claimed  that  they  had  won  on  the  face  of  the 
returns  from  Louisiana,  and  that  there  was  no 
authority  to  go  behind  these. 

Congress  met  December  5,  1876,  and  while  by  that 
time  all  knew  the  dangers  of  the  approaching  elec- 
toral count,  yet  neither  House  would  consent  to  the 
revision  of  the  joint  rule  regulating  the  count.  The 
Republicans  claimed  that  the  President  of  the  Senate 
had  the  sole  authority  to  open  and  announce  the  r& 
turns  in  the  presence  of  the  two  Houses;  the  Demo- 
crats plainly  disputed  this  right,  and  claimed  that  the 
joint  body  could  control  the  count  under. the  law. 

There  was  grave  danger,  and  it  was  asserted  that 
the  Democrats,  fearing  the  President  of  the  Senate 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT. 


229 


would  exercise  the  power  of  declaring  the  result, 
were  preparing  first  to  forcibly  and  at  last  with 
secrecy  swear  in  and  inaugurate  Tilden. 

P  resident  „      ^ 

Grant  and 
Secretary  of 
War  Came- 
ron thought 
the  condition 
of  affairs  crit- 
ical,and  both 
-made  active 
though  se 
cret  prepara- 
tions to  se- 
cure the  safe 
if  not  the 
peaceful  in- 
auguration 
of  Hayes. 
Grant,  in  one 
of  his  senten- 
tious utter- 
ances, said 
he  "would 
have  peace  if 
he  had  to 
fight  for  it." 
Members  of 

Congress  representing  both  of  the  great  political 
parties  substantially  agreed  upon  an  Electoral  Com- 
mission Act.  The  leaders  on  the  part  of  the  Re- 
publicans in  these  conferences  were  Conkling,  Ed- 


SAMUEI,  J 


230  LIV.ES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

munds,  Frelinghuysen;  on  the  part  of  the  Demo- 
crats, Bayard,  Gordon,  Randall  and  Hewitt,  the 
latter  a  member  of  the  House  and  Chairman  of  the 
Democratic  Committee. 

The  Electoral  Commission,  composed  of  8  Repub- 
licans and  7  Democrats,  met  February  i,  1877,  and 
by  uniform  votes  of  8  to  7  decided  all  objections  to 
the  electoral  vote  of  Florida,  Louisiana,  South  Car- 
olina, and  Oregon,  in  favor  of  the  Republicans;  and 
while  the  two  Houses  disagreed  on  nearly  all  of  these 
points  by  strict  party  votes,  the  electoral  votes  were, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  law,  given  to  Hayes  and 
Wheeler,  and  the  final  result  declared  to  be  185  elec- 
tors for  Hayes  and  Wheeler,  to  184  for  Tilden  and 
Hendricks.  The  uniform  vote  of  8  to  7  on  all  impor- 
tant propositions  considered  by  the  Electoral  Com- 
mission, to  their  minds  showed  a  partisan  spirit,  the 
existence  of  which  it  was  difficult  to  deny.  The 
action  of  the  Republican  "visiting  statesmen"  in 
Louisiana,  in  practically  overthrowing  the  Packard 
or  Republican  government  there,  caused  distrust  and 
dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  the  more  radical  Re- 
publicans, who  contended  with  every  show  of  reason 
that  if  Hayes  carried  Louisiana,  Packard,  the  Re- 
publican nominee  for  governor,  must  also  have  done 
so.  The  only  sensible  excuse  for  seating  Hayes  on 
the  one  side  and  throwing  out  Governor  Packard  on 
the  other,  was  a  desire  for  peace  in  the  settlement 
uf  both  Presidential  and  Southern  State  issues. 
There  was  hardly  any  question  but  that  Tilden  was 
elected;  but  he  lacked  the  nerve  and  force  of  char- 
acter to  assert  his  rights.  He  "  dreaded  civil  war." 
In  the  formation  of  the  Electoral  Commission,  the 


ULYSSES  S.   GRANT. 


231 


Democrats  were  out-generaled  and  everywhere  out- 
manoeuvered  by  their  keener  opponents.  The  bank- 
ing and  commercial  class  did  not  want  any  change 
of  administration  that  might  change  the  existing 
order  of  things,  financially  or  industrially,  and  so 
there  was  an  indifferent  sort  of  acquiescence  in  the 
accepted  political  arrangements. 

The  question  of  the  title  of  President  was  finally 
settled  June  14,  1878,  by  the  House  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee, under  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  two  Houses  of  the  44th  Con- 
gress having  counted  the  votes  cast  for  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  having 
declared  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  to  be  elected  Presi- 
dent, and  William  A.  Wheeler  to  be  elected  Vice- 
President,  there  is  no  power  in  any  subsequent 
Congress  to  reverse  that  declaration,  nor  can  any 
such  power  be  exercised  by  the  courts  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  other  tribunal  that  Congress  can  cre- 
ate under  the  Constitution. 

After  retiring  from  his  eight  years'  Presidency, 
Grant  went  or  a  voyage  around  the  world.  He  was 
everywhere  received  with  marked  cordiality  and 
treated  as  a  potentate.  The  military  governments 
of  Europe  flocked  to  see  the  victorious  general 
who  had  put  down  the  great  rebellion.  The  junket- 
ing round  the  world  kept  him  favorably  before  the 
public,  and  kept  him  out  of  the  way  of  any  political 
entanglements  until  the  time  should  come  round 
again  for  the  nomination  of  Presidential  candidates  in 
1880,  when  it  was  the  avowed  intention  of  his  friends 
to  spring  his  name  again  on  the  convention.  This 
was  popularity  called  a  "third  term,"  though  not  a 


232  L^VES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

third  consecutive  term.  His  three  powerful  senatorial 
friends,  in  the  face  of  bitter  protests,  had  secured  the 
instructions  of  their  respective  State  conventions  for 
Grant.  Conkling  had  done  this  in  New  York,  Cam- 
eron in  Pennsylvania,  Logan  in  Illinois ;  but  in  each 
of  the  three  States  the  opposition  was  so  impressive 
that  no  serious  attempts  were  made  to  substitute  other 
delegates  for  those  which  had  previously  been  selected 
by  their  Congressional  districts.  As  a  result  there  was 
a  large  minority  in  the  delegations  of  the  States  op- 
posed to  the  nomination  of  Grant,  solely  on  the 
"third  term"  issue,  and  their  votes  could  only  be 
controlled  by  the  enforcement  of  the  unit  rule.  Sena- 
tor Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  the  President  of  the 
Convention  (as  did  his  predecessors  in  the  Hayes 
Convention),  decided  against  its  enforcement,  and  as 
a  result  all  the  delegates  were  free  to  vote  upon  either 
State  or  district  instructions,  or  as  they  chose.  The 
convention  was  in  session  three  days. 

Grant,  to  his  credit  be  it  said,  wrote  a  letter  to 
Cameron  refusing  to  allow  his  name  to  come  before 
the  convention  for  a  third  term.  This  letter  was 
ruthlessly  suppressed  by  Conkling.  The  fact  that 
such  a  letter  had  been  written  was  not  made  public 
till  the  fall  of  1895  ;  and  the  good  name  of  Grant 
suffered  greatly  in  consequence. 

Grant  started  in  the  ballotings  with  304  votes, 
which  rose  to  306,  where  it  stayed  for  36  ballots ; 
378  votes  were  necessary  for  a  choice.  Elaine  re- 
ceived 284,  and  they  stuck  to  him  with  the  same 
persistency  throughout.  Sherman  and  Elaine,  to 
defeat  Grarit,  threw  their  delegations  to  James  A. 
Garfield  who  received  399  votes  on  the  36th  ballot, 


RUTHERFORD  B.   HAYES. 


233 


and  was  declared  the  nominee.  [For  particulars  of 
the  balloting,  see  under  Hayes.] 

Grant  engaged  with  his  son  in  the  banking  busi- 
ness in  New  York  City,  under  the  name  of  Grant  & 
Ward.  The  business  turned  out  disastrously.  In 
1885,  after  his  bankruptcy,  he  undertook  the  com- 
pilation of  his  "  Memoirs,"  and  completed  the  work 
only  four  days  before  his  death.  The  sale  of  the 
book  was  something  unprecedented,  and  brought  to 
his  widow  in  royalties  over  half  a  million  dollars. 

His  last  home  was  in  New  York.  He  fell  sick  in 
1884,  and  after  a  painful  eight  months'  lingering, 
with  cancer  in  the  throat,  he  died,  at  Mount  Mc- 
Gregor, near  Saratoga,  July  23,  1885,  and  was  buried 
with  great  pomp,  August  8,  1885,  at  Kiverside  Park 
(on  the  Hudson),  New  York  City. 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES— 1877-1881. 

RUTHERFORD  BIRCHARD  HAYES,  the  nineteenth 
President,  was  born  in  Ohio,  Oct.  4,  1822.  He  grad- 
uated in  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  in  1842,  and  having 
studied  law  at  Harvard  College,  in  Massachusetts, 
moved  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  practised  from  1849 
to  1861.  He  served  with  distinction  in  the  Civil 
War  as  an  officer  of  volunteers,  being  once  severely 
wounded,  and  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  brevet-major- 
general.  He  was  sent  to  Congress  in  1865 ;  was 
elected  Governor  in  1867,  being  re-elected  in  1869, 
and  again  in  1875.  ^u  I^76  he  was  nominated  by 


234  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  Republicans  for  the  Presidency;  was  declared 
elected  by  the  Electoral  Commission,  and  was  inau- 
gurated March  4,  1877. 

William  M.  Evarts  of  New  York,  the  ablest  man 
in  the  State,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State;  and 
John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  was  given  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  administration  of 
Hayes  had  not  trie  cordial  support  ot  the  party,  nor 
was  it  solidly  opposed  by  the  Democrats,  as  was  the 
last  administration  of  Grant.  His  early  withdrawal 
of  the  troops  from  the  Southern  States — and  it  was 
this  withdrawal  and  the  suggestion  of  it  from  the 
"visiting  statesmen"  which  overthrew  the  Packard 
government  in  Louisiana — embittered  the  hostility 
of  many  radical  Republicans.  Senator  Conkling,  who 
always  disliked  the  President,  was  conspicuous  in 
his  opposition,  as  was  Logan  of  Illinois,  and  Cam- 
eron of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  because  of  his  con- 
servative tendencies,  that  these  three  leaders  formed 
the  purpose  to  bring  Grant  again  to  the  Presidency. 
Yet  the  Hayes  Administration  was  not  always  con- 
servative, and  many  believed  that  its  moderation 
had  afforded  a  much-needed  breathing  spell  to  the 
country.  Towards  its  close  all  became  better  sat- 
isfied, the  radical  portion  by  the  President's  later 
efforts  to  prevent  the  intimidation  of  negro  voters 
in  the  South — a  form  of  intimidation  which  was 
now  accomplished  by  means  of  rifle  clubs,  still 
another  advance  from  the  White  League  and  the 
Ku-Klux.  He  made  this  a  leading  feature  in  his 
Message  to  the  Congress  in  1878,  and  by  an  aban- 
donment of  his  earlier  policy  he  succeeded  in  re- 


RUTHERFORD  B.   HAYES. 


235 


uniting  what  were  then  fast-separating  wings  of  his 
own  party. 

In  his  last  annual  Message,  in  December,  1880,  in 


RUTHERFORD   B.    HAYES. 


the  course  of  a  lengthy  discussion  of  the  civil  ser- 
vice, the  President  declared  that,  in  his  opinion, 
"every  citizen  has  an  equal  right  to  the  honor  and 
profit  of  entering  the  public  service  of  his  country. 


236  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

The  only  just  ground  of  discrimination  is  the  meas- 
ure of  character  and  capacity  he  has  to  make  that 
service  most  useful  to  the  people.  Except  in  cases 
where,  upon  just  and  recognized  principles,  as  upon 
the  theory  of  pensions,  offices  and  promotions  are 
bestowed  as  rewards  for  past  services,  their  bestowal 
upon  any  theory  which  disregards  personal  merit  is 
an  act  of  injustice  to  the  citizen,  as  well  as  a  breach 
of  that  trust  subject  to  which  the  appointing  power 
is  held." 

In  pursuance  of  his  reform  of  the  Civil  Service, 
he  removed  Chester  A.  Arthur  (afterwards  Vice- 
President  and  President),  from  his  office  of  Collector 
at  New  York  City.  This  is  the  most  valued  office 
under  the. administration,  and  Arthur  was  the  par- 
ticular friend  of  Senator  Conkling,  and  a  firm  be- 
liever in,  and  upholder  of,  the  old  political  adage 
that  "  to  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils." 

The  effect  of  his  administration  was,  in  a  political 
sense,  to  strengthen  a  growing  independent  sentiment 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Republicans — an  element  more 
conservative  generally  in  its  views  than  those  repre- 
sented by  Conkling  and  Elaine.  This  sentiment 
began  with  Bristow,  who  while  in  the  Cabinet  made 
a  show  of  seeking  out  and  punishing  all  corruptions 
in  Government  office  or  service.  On  this  platform 
and  record  he  had  contested  with  Hayes  the  honors 
of  the  Presidential  nominations,  and  while  the  latter 
was  at  the  time  believed  to  well  represent  the  same 
views,  they  were  not  urgently  pressed  during  his 
administration.  Indeed,  without  the  knowledge  of 
Hayes,  what  was  said  to  be  a  most  gigantic  "steal," 
under  the  name  of  the  Star  Route  bills,  had  its 


RUTHERFORD  B.   HAYES.  237 

birth,  and  thrived  so  well  that  no  important  discov- 
ery was  made  until  the  incoming  of  the  Garfield 
Administration.  The  Hayes  Administration,  it  is 
now  fashionable  to  say,  made  little  impress  for  good 
or  evil  upon  the  country,  but  impartial  historians 
will  give  it  the  credit  of  softening  party  asperities 
and  aiding  very  materially  in  the  restoration  of  better 
feeling  between  the  North  and  South.  Its  conser- 
vatism, always  manifested  save  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  did  that  much  good  at  least.  He  was 
active  in  pressing  forward  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments. 

He  died  on  January  17,  1893,  and  was  buried  at 
Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  Republicans  met,  June  5,  1880,  at  Chicago. 
The  excitement  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republicans 
was  very  high,  because  of  the  candidacy  of  Grant 
for  what  was  popularly  called  a  "third  term," 
though  not  a  third  consecutive  term.  His  friends, 
in  the  face  of  bitter  protests,  had  secured  the  in- 
structions of  their  respective  State  Conventions  for 
Grant.  Conkling  had  done  this  in  New  York,  Cam- 
eron in  Pennsylvania,  Logan  in  Illinois.  Still  there 
was  a  large  minority  in  the  delegations  of  these 
States  opposed  to  his  nomination.  The  convention 
was  in  session  three  days.  The  following  was  the 
vote  on  the  first  ballot:  Grant,  304;  Elaine,  284; 
Sherman,  93;  Edmunds,  34;  Washburne,  30;  Win- 
dom,  10.  On  the  second  ballot,  Garfield  and  Har- 
rison each  .received  one  vote.  The  vote  remained 
about  the  same  for  three  days,  when  it  got  to  be 
"anything  to  beat  Grant.'' 

The  prejudice  against  a  third  term  is  unyielding. 


238  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

It  is  more  than  sentiment.  It  is  wisdom.  Experi- 
ence has  burned  this  precaution  in  the  public  mind. 
Great  power  must  frequently  be  recalled  by  the  peo- 
ple and  transferred  to  new  hands.  And  so  Grant 
was  called  down. 

James  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  was  nominated  on  the 
36th  ballot,  Grant's  forces  alone  remaining  solid. 
After  Garfield's  nomination  there  was  a  temporary 
adjournment,  during  which  the  friends  of  the  nom- 
inee consulted  Conkling  and  his  leading  friends,  and 
the  result  was  the  selection  of  Chester  A.  Arthur  of 
New  York  for  Vice-President.  The  object  of  this 
selection  was  to  carry  New  York,  the  great  State 
which  was  then  believed  to  hold  the  key  to  the  Presi- 
dential position. 

The  Democrats  met  at  Cincinnati,  June  22,  1880. 
Tilden  had,  up  to  the  holding  of  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Convention,  been  the  most  promising  candi- 
date. There  was  a  struggle  between  the  Wallace  and 
Randall  factions  of  Pennsylvania,  the  former  favor- 
ing Hancock,  the  latter  Tilden.  Wallace  won,  and 
bound  the  delegation  by  the  unit  rule.  When  the 
convention  met,  John  Kelly,  the  Tammany  leader  of 
New  York,  was  again  there,  as  at  St.  Louis,  four 
years  before,  to  oppose  Tilden,  but  the  latter  sent  a 
letter  disclaiming  that  he  was  a  candidate,  and  yet 
really  inviting  a  nomination  on  the  issue  of  "  the 
fraudulent  counting  in  of  Hayes."  There  were  but 
two  ballots.  On  the  first  ballot,  the  "  favorite  sons  " 
of  the  several  States  received  the  customary  com- 
plimentary vote.  On  the  first  ballot  Hancock  re- 
ceived 171  votes;  Bayard,  153X1  an^  Tilden,  38. 


RUTHERFORD  B.   HAYES. 


239 


On  the  second  ballot  Hancock  received  705,  Tilden 
i,  Hendricks  30. 

Thus  General  Winfield  Scott  Hancock,  of  New 
York,  was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot.  William 
H.  English,  of  Indiana,  was  nominated  for  Vice- 
President. 

The  Greenback -Labor  Convention  nominated  Gen- 
eral J.  B.  Weaver,  of  Iowa,  for  President ;  and 
General  E.  J.  Chambers,  of  Texas,  for  Vice-President. 

In  the  canvass  which  followed,  the  Republican 
orators  visited  the  October  States  of  Ohio  and  In- 
diana, as  it  was  believed  that  these  would  determine 
the  result,  Maine  having  in  September  very  unex- 
pectedly defeated  the  Republican  State  ticket  by  a 
small  majority.  Conkling  held  aloof  at  first.  It  was 
believed  that  Hancock's  splendid  military  record 
would  carry  him  through,  and  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  do  something  to  offset  this  popularity. 
Great  influences  were  brought  to  bear  on  Conkling 
for  assistance.  With  Grant,  he  swung  around  the 
circle  of  States,  making  a  "business  "  campaign  of 
it ;  predicting  all  manner  of  direful  things  if  a  change 
were  made  in  the  administration  of  affairs.  The 
"  business  "  vote  settled  it.  Garfield  was  elected. 

General  Hancock  made  the  great  blunder  of  saying 
that  the  "  tariff  was  a  purely  local  issue."  This 
sentence  cost  him  Pennsylvania. 

Every  issue  was  recalled,  but  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  Republicans  of  the  West,  they  accepted 
the  tariff  issue,  and  made  open  war  on  the  plank  in 
the  Democratic  platform — "a  tariff  for  revenue 
only."  Iowa,  Ohio,  and  Indiana  all  elected  the 


240 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


Republican  State  tickets  with  good  margins;  West 
Virginia  went  Democratic,  but  the  result  was,  not- 
withstanding this,  reasonably  assured  to  the  Repub- 


GENERAI,  W.    S.    HANCOCK. 


licans.  The  Democrats,  however,  feeling  the  strong 
personal  popularity  of  their  leading  candidate,  per- 
sisted with  high  courage  to  the  end.  In  November 


JAMES  A.   GARFIELD. 

all  of  the  Southern  States,  with  New  Jersey,  Cali- 
fornia, and  Nevada  in  the  North,  went  Democratic; 
all  of  the  others,  Republican.  The  Greeubackers 
held  only  a  balance  of  power,  which  they  could 
not  exercise,  in  California,  Indiana,  and  New  Jersey. 
The  electoral  vote  of  Garfield  and  Arthur  was  214; 
that  of  Hancock  and  English,  155.  The  popular 
vote  was:  Republican,  4,442,950;  Democratic,  4,442,- 
035;  Greenback  or  National,  306,867;  scattering, 
12,576.  The  Congressional  elections  in  the  same 
canvass  gave  the  Republicans  147  members,  the 
Democrats,  136;  Greenbackers,  9;  Independents,  I. 


JAMES  A.  GARFlEIvD— 1881  (200  days). 

JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD,  the  twentieth  Presi- 
dent, was  born  in  Ohio,  November  19,  1831,  of 
Puritan  ancestors.  His  father  died  soon  after  the 
birth  of  James,  leaving  a  widow  and  four  small 
children  in  poor  circumstances.  He  knew  what 
deprivation  and  poverty  meant.  When  he  was  ten 
years  old  he  did  such  work  as  he  could  on  the  neigh- 
boring farms,  chopping  wood,  and  driving  horses  on 
the  tow-path  of  a  canal,  and  drudging  generally; 
and  spent  his  winters  at  the  district  school.  In  1849 
he  joined  the  Campbellites,  a  religious  offshoot  from 
the  Baptists.  He  went  through  Hiram  College, 
in  Ohio,  supporting  himself  by  teaching,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Williams  College,  in  Massachusetts,  in  1856. 

Returning  to  Hiram  College,  which  was  a  Camp- 
bellite  institution,  he  became  its  president,  and  there 


242 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


began  studying  law.     He  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  in  1859;  and  when  the  war  began  he  was 


JAMES  ABRAM  GARFIELD. 


placed  in  command  of  a  regiment  of  volunteers. 
In  1862  he  was  made  a  brigadier-general,  and  was 
promoted  to  be  a  major-general  for  gallantry  at 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  243 


Chickamauga.  He  shortly  after  resigned  his 
mand  to  enter  Congress.  He  remained  in  Congress 
till  1880,  where  he  rendered  valuable  service  on  mil- 
itary and  financial  questions.  In  January,  1880,  he 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate;  and  in 
June  of  the  same  year  he  was  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  on  the  Republican  ticket.  His  nomina- 
tion was  a  surprise,  and  the  result  of  a  fusion  of  the 
friends  of  Sherman  and  Elaine  to  defeat  Grant.  He 
delivered  speeches  in  his  own  behalf  during  the 
campaign  (an  unprecedented  performance  up  to  this 
time),  and  defeated  General  Hancock,  his  Democratic 
opponent,  by  a  very  narrow  majority  on  the  popular 
vote,  but  by  214  to  155  on  the  electoral  vote.  James 
B.  Weaver,  the  Greenbacker  and  Labor  candidate, 
polled  307,306  votes;  and  there  were  over  10,000 
votes  cast  for  the  Prohibition  ticket. 

James  A.  Garfield  was  inaugurated  President  on 
March  4,  1881.  His  address  promised  full  and  equal 
protection  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  for  the 
negro,  advocated  universal  education  as  a  safeguard 
of  suffrage,  and  recommended  such  an  adjustment 
of  our  monetary  system  "  that  the  purchasing  power 
of  every  coined  dollar  will  be  exactly  equal  to  its 
debt-paying  power  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world." 
The  national  debt  should  be  refunded  at  a  lower 
rate  of  interest,  without  compelling  the  withdrawal 
of  the  National  Bank  notes;  polygamy  should  be 
prohibited,  and  civil  service  regulated  by  law. 

James  G.  Blaine  was  made  Secretary  of  State; 
William  Windom,  of  Minnesota,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  and  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  a  son 
of  the  martyred  President),  Secretary  of  War. 


244 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


The  parties  were  even  in  this  session  of  the  Senate 
and  Vice-President  Arthur  had  to  employ  the  cast- 
ing vote  on  all  questions  where  the  parties  divided  ; 
he  invariably  cast  it  on  the  side  of  the  Republicans. 

The  President  nominated  William  H.  Robertson, 
the  leader  of  the  Elaine  wing  of  the  party  in  New 
York,  to  be  Collector  of  Customs.  Conkling  un- 
successfully fought  this  nomination  with  all  his 
power  and  influence,  but  Robertson  was  eventually 
confirmed. 

These  events  widely  separated  the  factions  in  New 
York — one  wing  calling  itself  "  Stalwart,"  the  other 
"  Half-Breed,"  a  term  of  contempt  flung  at  the  Inde- 
pendents by  Conkling.  Conkling  and  his  associate, 
Thomas  C.  Platt,  resigned  from  the  Senate.  Elections 
followed  to  fill  the  vacancies,  the  New  York  Legisla- 
ture being  in  session.  It  was  confidently  assumed 
that  both  Conkling  and  Platt  would  be  immediately 
returned.  This  would  give  Conkling  the  endorse- 
ment of  his  State  in  his  opposition  to  the  adminis- 
tration. Vice-President  Arthur  worked  indefatigably 
but  unavailingly  in  his  effort  to  bring  Conkling's  re- 
nomination  around.  These  vacancies  gave  the  Demo- 
crats for  the  time  control  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  but 
they  thought  it  unwise  to  pursue  an  advantage  which 
would  compel  them  to  show  their  hands  for  or  against 
one  or  other  of  the  opposing  Republican  factions. 
Warner  A.  Miller  became  Platt's  successor,  and  El- 
bridge  G.  Lapham  was  elected  to  fill  Conkling's  place. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2,  1881,  Gar- 
field  accompanied  by  Elaine,  left  the  Executive 
Mansion  to  take  a  train  for  New  England,  where  he 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  245 

intended  to  visit  the  college  from  which  he  had 
graduated.  He  was  walking  through  the  main 
waiting-room,  when  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  persistent 
and  disappointed  office-seeker,  entered  through  the 
main  door,  and  fired  two  shots,  one  of  which  took 
fatal  effect.  The  bullet  striking  the  President  about 
four  inches  to  the  right  of  the  spinal  column,  struck 
the  tenth  and  badly  shattered  the  eleventh  rib.  The 
shock  to  the  President's  system  was  very  severe, 
and  at  first  apprehensions  were  felt  that  death  would 
ensue  speedily.  Two  hours  after  the  shooting  he  was 
removed  to  the  Executive  Mansion  and  from  thence 
to  Long  Branch,  where,  in  a  cottage  at  Elberon,  it 
was-  hoped  vigor  would  return.  At  first,  indications 
justified  the  most  sanguine  expectations,  but  he  died 
at  10.35  on  the  night  of  September  19,  i88i,and  our 
nation  mourned,  as  it  had  only  done  once  before, 
when  Abraham  Lincoln  also  fell  by  the  hand  of  an 
assassin.  Guiteau  was  tried,  convicted,  and  hung, 
the  jury  rejecting  his  plea  of  insanity. 

Once  again  was  the  country  draped  in  mourning  as 
the  body  of  the  second  assassinated  President  passed 
through  the  land  to  its  final  resting-place  in  Cleveland. 

At  midnight  on  September  19,  the  Cabinet  tele- 
graphed to  Vice- President  Arthur  to  take  the  oath 
of  office,  and  this  he  very  properly  did  before  a  local 
judge.  He  was  soon  afterwards  again  sworn  in  at 
Washington,  with  the  usual  ceremonies.  He  re- 
quested the  Cabinet  to  hold  on  until  Congress  met,  and 
it  would  have  remained  intact  had  Secretary  Windom 
not  found  it  necessary  to  resume  his  place  in  the 
Senate. 


346  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR— 1881-1885. 

CHESTER  ALAN  ARTHUR,  who  became  our  twenty- 
first  President,  on  the  assassination  of  James  A. 
Garfield,  was  born  in  Vermont,  October  5,  1830. 
His  father  was  a  Baptist  minister  and  a  native  of  the 
North  of  Ireland.  He  distinguished  himself  as  a 
student  at  Union  College,  New  York,  and  devoting 
himself  to  law  studies,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1853.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  he  held 
the  post  of  inspector-general,  and  during  the  war  he 
was  quarter-master-general  for  the  New  York  forces. 
He  took  a  prominent  share  in  politics  on  the  Repub- 
lican side,  and  in  1871,  General  Grant  appointed 
him  Collector  of  Customs  at  the  port  of  New  York, 
a  very  much  coveted  post.  As  being  hostile  to  the 
reform  in  the  civil  service  aimed  at  by  President 
Hayes,  he  was  removed  from  this  post  in  1878.  He 
was  the  leader  of  the  Republican  party  in  New  York 
State,  and  though  belonging  to  the  section  of  the 
party  opposed  to  civil  service  reform  to  that  repre- 
sented oy  Garfield  he  was  made  the  Vice-President 
when  Garfield  became  President  in  1881.  Garfield' s 
death  called  him  to  the  supreme  magistracy  of  the 
Union.  He  was  provisionally  inaugurated  at  mid- 
night on  September  19,  1881,  on  notice  of  Garfield's 
death.  He  was  formally  sworn  into  the  office  later 
at  Washington  with  the  customary  ceremonies. 

One  of  his  law  cases  that  first  brought  him  into 
notoriety  in  New  York  City  was  the  winning  of  a 
suit  in  1856,  giving  blacks  the  right  to  ride  on  the 
horse  cars.  Some  of  the  cars  at  that  time  bore  the 


CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR.  347 

curious  legend,  "Colored  people  allowed  to  ride  in 
these  cars." 

He  brought  to  his  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State, 
T.  F.  Freylinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey.  For  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  he  appointed  Charles  J.  Folger, 
of  New  York,  and  upon  his  death,  soon  after  taking 
the  office,  it'was  conferred  upon  Walter  Q.  Gresham, 
of  Illinois.  He  offered  Senator  Conkling  a  seat  in 
the  Supreme  Court,  but  it  was  declined.  He  signed 
the  anti-polygamy  bill,  March  23,  1882. 

In  person  Arthur  was  tall,  large,  well-propor- 
tioned, and  of  distinguished  presence.  His  manners 
were  affable.  He  was  genial  in  domestic  and  social 
life,  and  warmly  liked  by  his  personal  friends. 

General  Arthur's  was  a  quiet,  clean,  and  business- 
like administration.  He  succeeded  in  checking  the 
divisions  in  his  party,  and  retired  on  March  4,  1885, 
with  the  good  will  of  the  entire  country.  In  this 
respect  he  differed  from  all  the  preceding  "acci- 
dental" Presidents,  like  Tyler,  Fillmore,  and  John- 
son. He  died  suddenly  of  apoplexy  in  New  York 
City,  November  18,  1886,  and  was  buried  at  Albany, 
New  York. 

The  Chinese  Question  was  settled  during  this 
administration.  Since  1877  there  had  been  a. con- 
stant agitation  in  California,  and  other  States  and 
Territories  on  the  Pacific  slope,  for  the  prohibition 
of  Chinese  immigration,  which  they  regarded  in  the 
light  of  an  invasion. 

President  Hayes  vetoed  the  first  bill  interdicting 
such  immigration  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  "vio- 
lation of  the  spirit  of  treaty  stipulations." 

On  February  28,  1882,  a  new  bill  was  offered  in 


348  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  Senate  prohibiting  immigration  to  Chinese  or 
Coolie  laborers  for  a  period  of  20  years.  Senator 
John  F.  Miller,  who  fathered  the  bill  and  who  was 


CHESTER  AI,AN   ARTHUR. 


conversant  with  all  the  leading  facts  in  the  history 

of  the  agitation,  in  explaining  this  antipathy  said: 

"  It  has  been  said  that  the  advocates  of  Chinese 


CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR.  249 

restriction  were  to  be  found  only  among  the  vicious, 
unlettered  foreign  element  of  California  society.  To 
show  the  fact  in  respect  of  this  contention,  the 
Legislature  of  California  in  1878  provided  for  a  vote 
of  the  people  upon  the  question  of  Chinese  immi- 
gration (so  called)  to  be  had  at  the  general  election 
of  1879.  The  vote  was  legally  taken,  without  ex- 
citement, and  the  response  was  general.  When 
the  ballots  were  counted,  there  were  found  to  be 
883  votes  for  Chinese  immigration  and  154,638 
against  it.  A  similar  vote  was  taken  in  Nevada 
and  resulted  as  follows:  183  votes  for  Chinese  immi- 
gration and  17,259  votes  against." 

Senator  Jones,  of  Nevada,  supported  the  bill  and 
in  resisting  the  fallacy  that  cheap  labor  produces 
national  wealth  called  attention  to  the  home  condi- 
tion of  the  350,000,000  Chinese. 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  29  to  15  vote,  and 
passed  the  House,  March  23,  1882,  by  167  favoring 
votes  to  65  negative  votes,  and  receiving  the  approval 
of  Arthur  became  a  law. 

In  1884,  the  Republican  Convention  met  at 
Chicago.  The  candidates  for  nomination  were: 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  of  New  York  ;  James  G.  Elaine, 
of  Maine;  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio;  George  F.  Ed- 
munds, of  Vermont;  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois; 
and  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  The  con- 
vention sat  for  four  days,  and  balloted  as  follows : 
ist  Ballot.  2d.  3d.  4th. 

Elaine 334  349  375  541 

Arthur  278  275  274  207 

Edmunds 93  85  96  41 

Logan 63  61  53  7 

Sherman 30  28  25  — 


250 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


There  were  820  votes.    Elaine  and  Logan  received 
the  nominations  for  President  and  Vice-President. 
In  this  convention,    President  Arthur  stood  out 


JAMES  G.  ELAINE. 

for  the  nomination  as  his  due,  and  as  a  vindication 
of  the  clean  and  dignified  administration  he  had 
given  the  country  after  Garfield's  death.  Gresham. 


CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR. 


251 


who  was  Arthur's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was 
approached  about  his  caudidacy,  but  he  insisted  that 
under  no  circumstances  would  he  allow  his  name  to 
be  used  as  long  as  Arthur  desired  the  nomination. 
He  was  loyal  to  his  chief,  and  did  all  that  he  could 
to  promote  his  chances  to  succeed  himself.  But  it 
was  not  to  be. 

The  Democrats  also  met  in  Chicago.  Opposition 
was  manifested  to  the  unit  rule.  An  effort  was  made 
to  abolish  the  two-thirds  rule,  but  this  was  met  with 
such  decided  disfavor  that  it  was  abandoned. 

The  prominent  nominees  were:  Grover  Cleveland, 
of  New  York;  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  of  Delaware; 
Allen  G.  Thurman,  of  Ohio;  and  Samuel  J.  Randall, 
of  Pennsylvania.  There  were  only  two  ballots  taken. 
On  the  first,  Cleveland  had  392  votes,  Bayard,  168, 
Thurmau  88,  Randall  78,  and  there  were  about  90 
scattering  votes.  On  the  second  ballot,  Grover 
Cleveland  received  684  votes  (547  being  necessary), 
and  he  was  therefore  declared  the  nominee  for  the 
Presidency.  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  was 
given  the  nomination  for  Vice-President. 

The  People's  and  Greenback  ticket  nominated 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  who  polled  133,880  votes,  thus 
aiding  the  Elaine  ticket;  but  as  an  offset  to  this,  the 
Prohibition  ticket  polled  150,633  votes,  nearly  all 
of  which  were  pulled  from  the  Republican  nominees. 
Grover  Cleveland  was  elected  President,  receiving 
219  electoral  votes,  while  Blaine  polled  but  182 
votes.  On  the  popular  vote,  Cleveland  had  a  plu- 
rality of  nearly  63,000  votes. 

<•  This  was  probably  the  most  exciting  canvass  in 
the  history  of  American  politics.  Fiery  enthusiasm 


252 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


on  both  sides  was  everywhere  displayed,  and  both 
parties  indulged  in  the  hottest  kind  of  partisanship. 
The  personal  character  of  both  the  Presidential 


GENERAL   BENJAMIN"   F.    BUTI.ER. 


nominess  were  raiicorously  assailed.  It  was  a  veri- 
table campaign  of  mud.  Elaine  and  Logan  made 
tours  around  the  country.  Elaine  was  followed  by  re- 
porters and  shadowed  by  detectives  in  the  hope  that 


CHESTER  A.   ARTHUR. 


253 


he  might  be  betrayed  into  some  expression  that 
could  be  used  against  him  or  tortured  into  helping 
his  opponents.  He  had  almost  got  to  the  end,  and 
would  unquestionably  have  been  elected,  but  for  one 
miserable  mishap — or,  as  was  claimed,  a  trick  that 
was  sprung  upon  him  on  the  Thursday  preceding 
the  election. 

Elaine  was  in  New  York,  and  among  the  many 
delegations  visiting  him  was  one  of  300  ministers, 
who  wished  to  show  their  confidence  in  his  moral 
and  intellectual  fitness  for  the  Chief  Magistracy. 
The  oldest  of  the  ministers  present  was  Mr.  Burch- 
ard,  and  he  was  assigned  to  deliver  the  address.  In 
closing  it,  he  referred  to  what  he  thought  ought  to 
be  a  common  opposition  to  "  Rum,  Romanism,  and 
Rebellion" — an  alliteration  which  not  only  awak- 
ened the  wrath  of  the  Democracy,  but  which  quickly 
estranged  many  of  the  Irish-American  supporters 
of  Elaine  and  Logan. 

Elaine  on  the  two  following  days  tried  to  counteract 
the  effects  of  an  imprudence  for  which  he  was  in  no 
way  responsible,  but  the  alliteration  was  instantly 
and  everywhere  employed  to  revive  religious  issues 
and  hatreds,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  circulars 
were  distributed  at  the  doors  of  Catholic  churches, 
implying  that  Elaine  himself  had  used  the  offensive 
words.  It  was  placarded  all  along  the  New  York 
State  canals.  A  more  unexpected  blow  was  never 
known  in  our  political  history.  It  determined  the 
result,  It  changed  New  York's  36  electoral  votes 
and  gave  Cleveland  the  Presidency. 


254  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND-  { 

STEPHEN  GROVER  CLEVELAND,  our  twenty-sec- 
ond, and  twenty-fourth  President,  was  born  in  New 
Jersey,  on  March  18,  1837.  His  father  was  a  Pres- 
byterian minister,  who  moved  into  New  York  when 
Grover  was  about  three  years  old.  The  father  died, 
leaving  his  widow  with  five  children,  and  in  poor 
circumstances.  He  first  clerked  in  a  store.  In  1859 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  started  practising  in 
Buffalo.  When  the  war  broke  out,  it  is  said  he 
desired  to  enlist,  but  he  was  dissuaded  by  the  idea 
that  some  one  should  stay  at  home  and  look  after 
the  family.  Two  of  his  brothers  went  off  to  the 
front.  He  was  drafted,  but  the  State  provided  a 
substitute.  From  1863  to  1866  he  was  Assistant  Dis- 
trict Attorney  for  Erie  County.  He  rose  to  be 
Sheriff,  and  subsequently  Mayor  of  Buffalo.  In 
1882,  aided  by  a  united  party  and  the  hearty  support 
of  the  independent  press  of  the  State,  he  was  elected 
Governor  by  a  sweeping  majority.  His  administra- 
tion of  the  office  satisfied  everybody.  In  1884  he 
was  the  Democratic  nominee  for  the  Presidency,  and 
after  a  most  exciting  canvass  was  elected,  receiving 
219  electoral  votes,  while  his  opponent,  Blaine,  re- 
ceived but  182  votes.  He  was  inaugurated  March 
4,  1885,  and  served  his  term  of  four  years. 

In  1888,  Cleveland  was  unanimously  renominated; 
but  he  was  this  time  defeated  by  Benjamin  Harrison. 
In  1892  he  was  again  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic ticket  with  President  Harrison  again  his  op- 
ponent; and,  after  a  very  close  canvass,  he  was  once 


GROVER  CLEVELAND.  255 

more  elected;  and  once  more,  on  March  4,  1893,  he 
took  the  oath  at  Washington  to  ' '  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  President." 

In  his  first  term,  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  of  Delaware, 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  State;  and  Daniel  Man- 
ning of  New  York  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Treas- 
ury. Manning  was  a  very  able  man;  he  was  greatly 
instrumental  in  securing  the  nomination  for  Cleve- 
land, and  subsequently  very  active  in  electing  him. 

This  (1885-1889)  was  the  first  Democratic  adminis- 
tration in  24  years.  The  politicians  were  naturally 
hungry  for  office,  and  raised  the  cry,  "Turn  the 
rascals  out."  The  President  ignored  this  clamor, 
and  declared  that  "public  office  was  a  public 
trust,"  and  in  consequence  there  would  be  no  whole- 
sale dismissals.  This  was  not  particularly  cheering 
to  the  rank  and  file,  who  had  walked  the  wilderness 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century;  and  it  was  the  occasion 
of  widespread  dissatisfaction  within  his  party. 

The  efforts  of  the  first  administration  were  directed 
towards  appeasing  civic  wranglings  and  holding  a 
close  political  alliance  with  the  Civil  Service  re- 
formers, without  disrupting  the  party  by  totally  re- 
fusing to  distribute  the  spoils  of  office.  Things  went 
along  smoothly  till  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  1887, 
when,  instead  of  the  customary  Message  dealing 
with  the  foreign  relations  of  the  nation,  Cleveland 
precipitated  a  surprising  address  on  the  Tariff  ques- 
tion, dealing  with  our  domestic  affairs.  This  address 
was  forced  into  such  prominence  in  the  ensuing 
Presidential  campaign,  that  it  became  the  single  issue. 

The  Democrats  met  in  St.  Louis,  on  June  5,  1888, 
and  were  in  session  three  days.  The  President's  last 


256  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Message  and-  the  Mills  Tariff  Bill  were  endorsed. 
This  result  was  not  satisfying  to  the  Protective 
Tariff  Democrats,  but  they  were  without  any  coura- 
geous representation  and  the  Platform  was  adopted 
with  but  one  dissenting  vote.  Grover  Cleveland  was 
renominated  by  acclamation.  The  Vice-Presidential 
nomination  went  to  Allen  G.  Thurman. 

The  Republicans  met  at  Chicago,  oh  June  19, 
1888.  Elaine  was  up  in  all  the  ballots,  and  it  was 
within  the  power  of  his  friends  to  nominate  him  : 
but  his  final  refusal  led  them  to  vote  for  Benjamin 
Harrison  of  Indiana.  Levi  P.  Morton,  of  New  York, 
was  nominated  for  Vice-President.  The  voting 
opened  with  229  votes  for  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio; 
W.  Q.  Gresham  received  in  votes;  Harrison  re- 
ceived 80  votes  on  the  first  ballot,  then  rose  to  298, 
and  on  the  eighth  ballot  received  544  votes. 

The  Republicans  accepted  in  the  plainest  way  the 
issues  thus  thrust  upon  the  country  by  Cleveland's 
Message.  Visiting  delegates  from  both  parties  went 
through  all  the  great  States,  enthusing  their  respec- 
tive partisans. 

The  election  resulted  in  Harrison  receiving  233 
electoral  votes.  Cleveland  got  but  168  votes.  Har- 
rison and  Morton  were  therefore  elected,  and  took 
their  offices  on  March  4,  1889.. 

During  Cleveland's  first  term,  four  States  were  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  on  February  22,  1889 :  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington. 


[For  the  incidents  surrounding  the  subsequent,  or  1893  cam- 
paign, see  under  Harrison.] 


G ROVER  CLEVELAND. 


257 


Grover  Cleveland  was  inaugurated  as  our  twenty- 
fourth  President  on  March  4,  1893.     To  his  Cabinet 


GROVER  CLEVELAND. 


he  called  Walter  Q.   Gresham,  of  Illinois  (a  Repub- 
lican), as  Secretary  of  State ;  Senator  John  G.  Car- 
lisle, of  Kentucky,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
17 


358  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

Treasury  Department.  Richard  S.  Olney,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  appointed  Attorney-General.  Gresham 
died  in  1895,  and  Olney  was  advanced  to  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  State. 

Cleveland's  first  act,  on  March  4,  1893,  was  to 
request  the  Senate  to  recall  the  Treaty  of  Annexa- 
tion with  Hawaii — one  of  the  last  acts  of  the 
Harrison  Administration,  just  before  Cleveland's 
accession.  On  April  14,  the  American  Protectorate 
established  there  was  withdrawn  by  Commissioner 
Blount,  who  had  gone  there  as  the  President's  direct 
representative.  Cleveland  tried  unsuccessfully  to 
reinstate  the  dethroned  Queen,  but  was  thwarted  by 
the  Revolutionists,  who  would  not  have  her.  The 
Republic  of  Hawaii  was  proclaimed  on  July  4,  1893. 
On  August  9,  it  was  officially  recognized  by  us. 

During  Cleveland's  second  administration-  was  cel- 
ebrated the  4ooth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus.  A  "  Columbian "  Exposi- 
tion was  carried  on  in  Chicago  for  six  months,  from 
May  till  November,  1893.  It  was  the  greatest  ex- 
position ever  held  in  the  world.  Its  beauty  was 
simply  marvelous.  The  receipts  for  admission  were 
nearly  eleven  millions  of  dollars,  which  will  convey 
some  impression  of  its  magnitude,  and  of  the  furore 
it  occasioned  at  home  and  abroad.  The  buildings 
cost  nearly  thirty  millions  of  dollars ;  they  were  built 
on  Lake  Michigan  and  styled  the  "White  City." 
The  exposition  was  visited  by  nearly  twenty-eight 
million  people. 

On  November  7,  1893,  eleven  States  held  elec- 
tions. The  Democrats  carried  Virginia,  Kentucky, 


G ROVER  CLEVELAND. 


259 


and  Maryland.  The  Republicans  got  the  rebound 
of  the  "  tidal  wave,"  and  polled  surprisingly  large 
majorities  from  the  great  manufacturing  States  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Massachu- 
setts; and  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Nebraska  and  South 
Dakota.  In  other  words,  the  Administration  carried 
three  States,  with  a  voting  representation  of  417,267 
votes;  while  the  Republicans  carried  eight  States, 
represented  by  nearly  3,000,000  votes. 

William  McKinley,  the  father  of  the  "  McKinley 
Tariff  Bill,"  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio  by  a  very 
large  majority  over  L.  T.  Neal,  his  Democratic  op- 
ponent, and  the  author  of  the  "  Protection  is  a 
Fraud"  plank  in  the  1892  Cleveland  Platform. 

In  the  summer  of  1893  a  money  panic  was  pro- 
voked by  the  banks  who  refused  the  customary  dis- 
counting accommodations  to  the  business  commu- 
nity, no  matter  how  financially  stable  they  might  have 
been.  They  attributed  the  "panic"  to  the  "Silver 
Purchasing  Act,"  and  the  President  convened  a 
special  Congress  to  consider  the  crisis.  After  a  long 
and  acrimonious  debate,  in  which  all  free  coinage 
amendments  were  rejected,  the  Silver  Repeal  Act  was 
passed,  October  30,  1893,  many  Republicans  voting 
with  the  Democrats. 

On  December  19,  1893,  a  tariff  bill  known  as  the 
"  Wilson  Bill "  was  offered  in  the  House.  It  was 
debated  for  23  days,  and  passed  February  i,  1894. 
It  went  to  the  Senate,  where  it  was  debated  till  July, 
and  after  numerous  conferences  and  amendments 
was  finally  passed  by  a  strict  party  vote,  182  being 


26o  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

for,  and  106  against  the  measure.  The  House  agreed 
to  the  bill  on  August  13,  1894. 

The  bill  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  President,  who 
insisted  on  free  raw  materials.  He  allowed  it  to 
become  a  law  without  his  approval. 

An  "  Income  Tax  "  provision  was  inserted  in  the 
bill  at  the  President's  suggestion.  He  claimed  that 
it  would  be  paid  by  millionaires  without  falling  on 
any  of  them  oppressively.  The  press  rancorously 
assailed  the  constitutionality  of  the  law.  It  struggled 
through  the  House,  and  won  its  way  through  a  re- 
luctant Senate.  It  was  voted  for  by  172  Democrats 
and  10  Populists.  There  were  but  48  votes  against 
it,  these  being  mainly  Republicans.  The  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court  subsequently  decided  that  the  In- 
come Tax  was  unconstitutional,  and  it  became  in- 
operative. It  was  confidently  expected  by  the 
President  and  his  following  that  the  bill  would  have 
been  sustained  by  the  court.  Its  being  thrown  out 
reduced  the  revenues  of  the  Government  more  than 
30  millions  of  dollars ;  and  obliged  the  President  to 
beg  from  Congress  the  authority  to  issue  gold  bonds 
— in  other  words — to  borrow  enough  money  to  cover 
the  deficiency  forced  upon  the  Government  by  the 
changed  conditions  of  our  tariff  laws. 

In  a  nut-shell  the  case  resolves  itself  to  this: 
President  Harrison  in  four  years  reduced  the  national 
debt  $236,527,666;  President  Cleveland  in  three 
years  increased  the  interest-bearing  bonded  debt 
$262,602,245.  If  the  Wilson  Tariff  Bill  as  it  first 
passed  the  House,  where  it  met  with  the  hearty 
approval  of  the  President,  had  become  law,  the 


GROVER  CLEVELAND.  26j 

deficiency  in  revenue  would  have  been  much  greater. 

An  act  enabling  Utah  to  enter  the  Union  was  en- 
acted, and  on  January  4,  1896,  she  made  the  45th 
State,  and  added  another  star  to  the  national  flag. 

The  elections  of  November,  1894,  resulted  in  great 
Republican  victories.  21  States  elected  governors, 
and  of  these  only  three  elected  Democrats.  The 
elections  of  1895  resulted  in  even  greater  Republican 
victories.  Elections  were  held  in  12  States  and  all 
but  one  were  carried  by  the  Republicans,  generally 
by  large  majorities.  The  solitary  Democratic  State 
was  Mississippi. 

No  great  party  was  ever  so  sweepingly  repudiated  as 
the  Democratic  organization  has  been  during  the 
past  three  years.  The  elections  of  1893,  I^94j'i895, 
all  showed  that  the  country  profoundly  regretted  the 
blunder  of  1892.  As  Representative  Cannon  of  Illi- 
nois succinctly  put  it,  "  Ever  since  the  Democratic 
administration  came  into  power  there  has  been  de- 
ficiency, distress,  idleness,  and  panic." 

The  Cuban  Revolution  began  on  February  20, 
1895,  by  uprisings  in  different  parts  of  the  island. 
It  has  continued  with  various  results  ever  since. 
The  previous  uprising  lasted  from  1878  till  1888, 
when  the  Cubans  surrendered  upon  promises  from 
Spain  of  reforms  that  have  never  been  accorded. 
The  Senate  and  House  passed  resolutions  favoring 
the  recognition  of  belligerency,  and  calling  upon  the 
Executive  to  expostulate  with  Spain  and  prevent  her 
treating  her  rebellious  subjects  as  brigands  or  pirates. 
The  President  treated  these  resolutions  as  if  they 
were  a  precipitate  and  perfunctory  expression  of 


262  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

ephemeral  opinion ;  and  did  everything  in  his  power 
to  aid  Spain  in  maintaining  her  despotic  and  destruc- 
tive sovereignty  over  Cuba. 

The  Venezuela  case  was  originally  a  boundary 
question.  Discoveries  of  gold  in  Venezuela  and  the 
growing  importance  of  the  Orinoco  River,  led  the 
British  to  claim  that  the  boundary  of  British  Guiana 
extends  to  the  Orinoco,  and  included  these  gold  fields. 
Our  Government  recommended  arbitration  to  set- 
tle the  question;  but  Great  Britain,  having  a  bad 
case,  refused  to  accede.  When  British  subjects  en- 
tered the  disputed  territory,  they  were  arrested  by 
the  Venezuelans,  and  for  this  Great  Britain  demanded 
an  indemnity.  She  threatened  to  seize  a  part  of 
Venezuela  to  enforce  her  demands  ;  and  the  President 
surprised  the  public  by  nobly  championing  the  cause 
of  little  Venezuela  as  against  Great  Britain,  on  the 
ground  that  our  Monroe  Doctrine  would  not  allow 
us  to  entertain  the  idea  of  any  foreign  government 
possessing  any  portion  of  this  continent — either  by 
grab  or  purchase.  Lord  Salisbury  refused  peremp- 
torily to  arbitrate  the  question,  but  six  months  later 
England  accepted  the  solution  proposed  by  the 
United  States. 

The  world  was  surprised  at  the  unanimity  with 
which  the  President's  Venezuelan  Message  was  en- 
dorsed by  the  people,  who  showed  that  they  were 
strong,  prepared,  and  thoroughly  united. 

The  Republicans  met  in  St.  Louis,  on  June  16, 
1896.  Two  days  were  spent  in  formulating  the 
platform.  Governor  William  McKinley,  of  Ohio, 
received  on  the  first  ballot  66 1^  votes,  and  was 


GROVER  CLEVELAND.  263 

therefore  nominated  with  an  unanimity  not  expressed 
for  any  successful  new  candidate,  with  the  exception 
of  Fremont,  the  first  Republican  candidate  in  1856, 
and  Grant,  the  third,  in  1868.  They  alone  were 
nominated  for  a  first  term  on  the  first  ballot.  Garret 
A.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey,  received  the  Vice-Presi- 
dential nomination.  The  platform  was  staunchly 
Republican. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  at  Chicago,  July 
7,  and  on  the  loth,  it  nominated,  on  the  fifth  ballot, 
William  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  for  President,  and 
Arthur  Sewall,  of  Maine,  for  the  second  place  on 
the  ticket.  The  Convention  was  under  the  full 
control  of  the  Silverites,  and  they  dominated  its 
action.  The  sound  money  Democrats,  as  they  styled 
themselves,  openly  revolted  against  silver,  and  de- 
manded a  new  ticket.  Whitney  an4  Hill  and  other 
prominent  Democrats  were  pronounced  in  their 
hostility  to  the  Chicago  platform  and  ticket,  and  the 
New  York  Sun  came  out  distinctly  for  McKinley, 
advising  all  sound-money  and  other  Democrats  to  so 
vote  as  the  only  means  of  defeating  the  Bryan  pro- 
gramme, which  it  denounced  as  a  compound  of 
plunder,  anarchy  and  repudiation. 

The  Cleveland  administration  felt  exceedingly  sore 
over  the  outcome.  They  objected  to  the  "regular'' 
nominee,  and  still  could  not  persuade  themselves  to 
vote  for  McKinley,  who  was  heraled  as  "  the  apostle 
of  protection  and  the  advance  agent  of  prosperity." 
A  third  ticket  was  accordingly  placed  in  the  field  on 
September  3,  by  the  sound  money  Democrats  placing 
in  nomination  General  John  M.  Palmer,  of  Illinois, 


364  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

and  General  Simon  B.  Buckner,  of  Kentucky.  This 
alliance  of  the  "blue  and  the  gray"  was  intended  to 
attract  those  Democrats  who  might,  in  the  absence  of 
the  third  ticket,  vote  for  Bryan  and  Sewall.  Cleveland 
endorsed  this  ticket  and  the  "old"  Democracy. 

The  Populists  nominated  the  Vice-President  first, 
naming  Thomas  E.  Watson,  of  Georgia;  and  then 
endorsed  Bryan  for  the  Presidency.  Watson  received 
52,000  votes,  or  20,000  more  than  the  Palmer  ticket. 

The  contest  for  the  presidency  was  the  most  tre- 
mendous contest  of  years.  The  McKinleyites  were 
supported  by  nearly  all  the  most  influential  news- 
papers. They  controlled  an  abundant  campaign  fund 
which  was  lavishly  expended.  The  Bryanites  had 
barely  funds  to  meet  necessary  expenses.  Bryan 
showed  himself  to  be  the  strongest  candidate  his  party 
could  have  chosen.  He  is  a  very  able,  determined, 
clear-headed  man,  of  the  golden  age  of  36,  and  in  the 
future  movements  of  his  party  he  will  have  to  be 
considered  as  a  very  important  factor.  Had  the 
general  election  taken  place  in  August,  Bryan  might 
possibly  have  been  elected.  Certainly  there  was 
more  study  of  true  politics  in  this  country  during  the 
last  half  of  1896  than  previously  in  thirty  years.  By 
October  the  pendulum  of  public  opinion  had  swung 
back,  and  the  feeling  was  that  McKinley  would  be 
unquestionably  elected,  but  by  a  slender  majority. 

Great  was  the  consternation  of  the  Bryanites,  and 
the  jubilation  of  the  Republicans,  at  the  unprece- 
dented majorities  rolled  up  for  McKinley,  whose: 
election  was  secured  by  a  plurality  of  over  one  mil- 
lion of  the  popular  vote — the  largest  ever  given. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON.  365 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON— 1889-1893. 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  our  twenty-third  President, 
was  born  in  Ohio,  August  20,  1833,  and  was  one  of  a 
family  of  nine  children.  His  father  was  a  son  of  Presi- 
dent William  Henry  Harrison.  Benjamin  graduated 
from  Miami  University,  Ohio,  in  1852.  He  studied 
law  and  settled  in  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  to  practise 
his  profession  in  1854.  When  the  war  broke  out  he 
raised  a  company  of  volunteers  and  was  its  second 
lieutenant,  from  which  he  rose  to  a  Colonelcy.  He 
served  in  the  Atlanta  campaigns  under  Sherman 
and  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Resaca. 
He  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville  under  Gen- 
eral Thomas  in  1864.  In  1865  he  was  made  a  brevet- 
Brigadier-General. 

He  took  an  active  part  in  Grant's  Presidential 
campaign  in  1868  and  again  in  1872.  In  1876  he  ran 
for  Governor  of  Indiana,  but  was  defeated.  He  de- 
clined a  Cabinet  office  under  Garfield.  He  was 
elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  in  1880,  but  was  defeated 
when  he  ran  for  re-election  six  years  later.  In  1888, 
he  was  the  Republican  nominee  for  the  Presidency 
against  Grover  Cleveland,  and  was  elected.  He  was 
sworn  into  office  March  4,  1889. 

James  G.  Blaine  was  called  to  the  Cabinet  as  Sec- 
retary of  State  ;  and  William  Windom  was  made 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Secretary  Windom  died 
January  29,  1891,  and  was  followed  in  the  office  by 
Charles  Foster,  of  Ohio.  John  Wanamaker,  of 
Philadelphia,  was  Postmaster-General. 

In  December,  1889,  tne  McKinley  Tariff  Bill  was 


266  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

passed.  Its  main  features  were  a  large  reduction 
in  revenues  caused  by  a  substantial  removal  of  duties 
from  raw  sugar,  a  sytem  of  bounties  for  sugar  grown 
here,  an  increase  of  duty  on  many  manufactured 
articles,  and  the  adoption  of  a  clause  suggested  by 
Elaine  favoring  reciprocity  with  other  American 
Nations.  Wyoming  and  Idaho  were  admitted  as 
States. 

The  Republicans  met  at  Minneapolis,  June  7, 
1892.  Elaine  had  written  the  Chairman  of  the  Con- 
vention that  his  name  would  not  be  presented  as  a 
candidate.  Harrison's  re-nomination  was  opposed  by 
the  political  leaders  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Iowa,  Louisiana,  Colorado,  Oregon,  and  Mis- 
souri, who  agreed  to  present  and  support  Elaine, 
feeling  satisfied  he  would  accept  if  his  nomination 
was  plainly  for  the  good  of  the  party.  The  feeling 
against  "boss"  rule,  as  it  was  styled,  prevented 
Elaine's  nomination.  McKinley,  the  father  of  the 
1890  Tariff  bill,  was  suggested,  but  he  voted  for 
Harrison  and  resisted  the  proposed  stampede  in  his 
favor.  Thereupon  Harrison  was  re-nominated,  re- 
ceiving 535  votes  to  182  each  for  both  McKinley 
and  Elaine.  Whitelaw  Reid,  of  New  York,  was 
placed  on  the  ticket  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  in  the 
place  of  Levi  P.  Morton. 

The  Democrats  met  at  Chicago,  June  21,  1892. 
Cleveland  was  the  avowed  nominee.  He  was  op- 
posed by  Senator  David  B.  Hill  and  the  whole 
power  of  Tammany  Hall  in  New  York  City,  who 
repeatedly  declared  that  he  could  not  carry  his  own 
State.  Balloting  was  reached  on  the  23d,  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  Cleveland  leaders,  under 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


267 


W.  C.  Whitney,  doing  this  to  prevent  combinations 
by  the  opposition.     Cleveland  received  617  votes  ; 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON. 


David  B.  Hill,  115  ;  Governor  Boies,  of  Iowa,  103 ; 

with  75  scattering.     Cleveland  was  thereupon  unani- 


2  68  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

mously  renominated.  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  of  Illi- 
nois, was  nominated  for  the  Vice-Presidency  on  the 
first  ballot 

A  notable  scene  in  the  convention  was  created 
when  a  radical  free-trade  plank  was  moved  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  more  moderate  utterances  of  the 
platform.  The  substitute  denounced  the  protective 
tariff  as  a  fraud.  It  was  reported  that  the  substitute 
was  prepared  by  the  Anti-Cleveland  leaders.  The 
result  of  the  vote  was  564  for  the  substitute,  and  314 
against  it. 

The  campaign  was  run  on  about  the  same  general 
issues  as  in  1888.  Harrison,  however,  was  consid- 
erably weakened  by  the  substitution  of  Reid  for 
Vice-President,  in  place  of  Morton.  Reid  was  stren- 
uously objected  to  by  all  the  labor-unions  in  the 
country.  His  candidacy  cost  Harrison  the  vote  of 
New  York,  and  thereby  a  re-election.  He  had  car- 
ried the  State  in  1889  by  14,000  plurality. 

Cleveland  and  Stevenson  received  277  electoral 
votes,  and  Harrison  and  Reid  but  145.  On  the  popular 
vote,  Cleveland  received  98,017  more  than  Harrison. 

Ex-President  Hayes  and  James  G.  Blaine  died  in 
January,  1893. 

In  Hawaii,  the  queen  was  dethroned  by  the  revo- 
lutionists, and  on  February  ist  Minister  Stevens 
raised  the  United  States  flag  at  Honolulu,  landed  the 
U.  S.  marines,  and  established  a  protectorate.  A 
treaty  of  annexation  to  the  United  States  was  about 
to  be  signed,  but  the  President  thought  it  a  matter 
of  courtesy  to  hold  over  all  further  proceedings  for 
action  by  his  successor.  A  bad  thing,  as  it  turned 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON.  369 

out,  for  Cleveland  tried  in  every  conceivable  way  to 
recognize  the  monarchy,  and  reinstate  the  deposed 
queen. 

Although  General  Harrison's  term  was  distin- 
guished by  no  very  remarkable  events,  yet  a  large 
number  of  useful  measures  were  adopted,  and  a 
model  of  executive  administration  was  presented. 
There  was  vigilance  in  the  execution  of  the  law  by 
all  its  officers  and  guardians.  There  was  no  waste ; 
no  stealing ;  no  defalcations,  and  there  was  no  rings 
nor  jobs.  There  was  probity  and  integrity  in  office  ; 
there  was  no  purchasing  of  votes  or  corrupt  means 
practised  to  influence  legislation ;  there  was  public 
and  private  virtue;  at  the  courts  of  foreign  nations 
we  were  represented  by  men  of  experience,  learning 
and  ability. 

On  the  inauguration  of  Cleveland  and  Stevenson, 
General  Harrison  returned  to  Indianapolis,  Indiana, 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law. 

The  national  debt  was  reduced  during  this  admin- 
istration $236,527,666 ;  a  very  repectable  showing. 

[The  more  important  of  the  measures  of  the  second  Cleveland 
Administration  will  be  found  in  the  preceding  pages  under 
Cleveland.] 


McKINLEY— 1897-1901. 

William  McKinley,  our  twenty -fifth  President,  was 
born  at  Niles,  Ohio,  on  January,  29,  1843.  He  was 
educated  at  the  public  schools ;  enlisted  in  an  Ohio 
regiment,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  served  through 


2  ;o  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

the  Civil  War,  attaining  the  rank  of  Captain  and 
Brevet-Major.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1867 ; 
served  as  a  member  of  Congress  from  1887  to  1891, 
when  he  was  jerrymandered  out  of  his  seat ;  he  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
which  framed  the  tariff  of  1890 — known  as  the 
McKinley  Bill.  He  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio 
in  1891,  and  again  in  1893.  He  has  now  reached 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people. 

Governor  McKinley  was  duly  inaugurated  Presi- 
dent ;  Lyman  J.  Gage,  a  banker  in  Chicago,  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Treasury  Department ;  Russell 
A.  Alger,  of  Michigan,  was  made  Secretary  of  War  ; 
John  D.  Long,  of  Massachusetts,  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Navy  ;  Joseph  McKenna,  of  California, 
was  made  Attorney  General,  but  was  subsequently 
elevated  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and 
John  W.  Griggs,  of  New  Jersey,  was  appointed  in  his 
stead.  Senator  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio  was  made 
Secretary  of  State.  He  retired  in  April,  1898,  and 
his  office  was  turned  over  to  William  R.  Day,  of 
Ohio,  who  had  served  as  Assistant  Secretary.  He  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Spanish  Peace  Commissioners, 
and  the  office  was  conferred  on  John  Hay,  another 
Ohioan,  who  had  been  Minister  at  London. 

Repeated  efforts  had  been  made  by  Congress  during 
the  Cleveland  administration  to  recognize  the  bellig- 
erency of  the  Cubans  in  the  war  with  Spain.  These 
efforts  were  all  quietly  ignored  by  the  president  and 
his  secretary  (Olney).  Reports  continued  to  reach  us 
of  the  heart-sickening  condition  of  the  starving 
people  whom  Weyler,  the  Spanish  general,  had 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY. 


271 


driven  from  their  farm  homes  into  the  cities,  where 
there  was  no  employment  for  them,  no  provision 
made  for  their  maintenance  in  this  barbaric  captivity. 
These  forced  the  Cuban  situation  upon  the  consciences 
of  all  true  Americans.  Its  immediate  effect  was  fol- 


WILLIAM  MCKINLEY. 


lowed  by  an  exchange  of  notes  between  our  govern- 
ment and  Spain,  followed  by  Spain's  offer  of  auton- 
omy, and  more  liberty  to  Cuba  than  that  government 
ever  before  granted  to  any  of  its  dependencies.  Au- 
tonomy was  repudiated  by  the  Cubans,  who  declared, 
"  We  are  fighting  for  liberty  ;  not  for  reforms." 


272  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

These  promised  reforms  were  intended  simply  to 
delude  for  a  time  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
The  scheme  was  an  extremely  adroit  one,  and  noth- 
ing more  shamelessly  mendacious  was  ever  attempted. 
McKinley  was  surrounded  by  advocates  of  peace  who 
had  been  opposing  the  war  on  constitutional,  philan- 
thropic, or  religious  grounds.  He  wished  to  avoid 
war,  and  was  imposed  upon  by  these  stratagems,  until 
an  intercepted  or  stolen  letter  from  the  Spanish 
minister  to  a  friend  in  Havana  betrayed  the  fact  that 
Spain  was  simply  jollying  this  country,  and  figuring 
for  delay.  De  Lome  in  this  letter  characterized  the 
president  as  a  "  low  politician,"  and  expressed  the 
belief  that  he  "  could  manipulate  things  in  Washing- 
ton to  suit  the  exigencies  of  Spain."  Our  govern- 
ment demanded  his  instant  recall. 

The  Spanish  government  exhausted  all  the  arts  of 
diplomacy  in  figuring  for  delay.  The  Pope  and  the 
European  powers  were  influenced  to  intervene.  How- 
ever much  they  sympathized  with  Spain,  they  were 
arrested  by  prudential  considerations  from  interfering. 
England,  contrary  to  her  old-time  attitude,  showed 
herself  decidedly  friendly  throughout,  and  there  was 
a  strong  suspicion  that  some  secret  agreement  had 
been  reached  between  the  two  nations. 

Fitzhugh  Lee  had  been  to  Havana  as  Consul 
General,  and  Murat  Halstead,  a  well-known  and 
trained  journalist  went  there  in  a  semi-official  capa- 
city. Later  on>  Senator  Proctor,  of  Vermont  visited 
the  island.  They  all  denounced  Spanish  misrule 
there  as  worse  than  anything  they  had  ever  known 
about  Cuba  had  been  reduced  by  Spanish  atrocity 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY, 


273 


from  a  land  of  plenty  to  a  howling  wilderness.  The 
Spaniards  had  sent  across  the  Atlantic  more  than 
200,000  of  their  sons  to  fight  against  Cuban  rebels, 
and  more  than  half.of  these  were  killed  or  hopelessly 
disabled.  Cuba  on  her  part  seems  to  have  lost  nearly 
half  the  population  of  the  island. 

McKinley  proffered  upon  purely  humanitarian 
grounds  to  relieve  the  starving  reconcentrados  in  Cuba, 
but  this  was  not  kindly  received  by  public  opinion  i;; 
Spain,  and  was  resented  by 
the  Spanish  government  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  the 
entering  wedge  for  Ameri- 
can intervention. 

To  establish  a  feeling  o? 
fairness  and  friendliness  be- 
tween the  two  nations  an 
interchange  of  naval  visits 
was  suggested.  The  an- 
nouncement was  received 
by  the  Spanish  government 
with  apparent  pleasure,  and 
the  battleship  "  Maine  "  was  ordered  to  call  at  the 
port  of  Havana,  and  was  taken  and  moored  by  the 
government  pilot  to  an  anchorage  assigned  by  the 
authorities  ;  the  harbor  being  for  a  good  while  under 
absolute  military  control. 

The  "  Maine  "  with  her  officers  and  crew  numbered 
about  400.  She  reached  Havana  on  January  2otli, 
1898,  and  on  the  evening  of  February  I5th  she  was 
destroyed  by  an  explosion,  and  260  of  her  crew  lost 
their  lives.  This  appalling  calamity  created  intense 
18 


ADMIRAL 


274 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


excitement,  but  through  it  all  our  government  kept 
cool.  A  Naval  Court  of  Inquiry  into  the  cause  of  the 
explosion  was  at  once  organized.  This  Court  pro- 
ceeded to  make  a  thorough  investigation  on  the  spot, 
employing  for  the  purpose  a  strong  force  of  expert 
divers  and  wreckers.  After  a  continuous  labor  for 
twenty-three  days  the  Court  reached  the  somewhat 
indefinite  conclusion :  "  that  the  loss  of  the  '  Maine ' 
was  not  in  any  respect  due  to  fault  or  negligence  on 
the  part  of  officers  or  crew  *  *  *  the  vessel  was 
destroyed  by  the  explosion  of  a  submarine  mine 
situated  under  the  bottom  of  the  ship."  The  Court 
was  unable  to  obtain  evidence  affixing  the  respon- 
sibility "  on  any  person  or  persons." 

The  Spanish  regarded  the  presence  of  the  "  Maine" 
at  Havana  as  a  menace  to  Spanish  sovereignty  on  the 
island,  and  as  an  encouragement  to  the  insurgents. 
The  Spanish  government  asserted  that  the  destruction 
of  the  vessel  was  an  accident,  due  to  our  own  care- 
lessness or  negligence,  repudiated  the  findings  of  our 
Court  of  Inquiry,  and  insisted  there  was  no  external 
explosion,  and  no  Spanish  complicity. 

By  a  singular  coincidence,  as  a  return  of  courtesy, 
the  "Viscaya,"  a  very  large  and  heavily-armored 
cruiser,  equipped  with  the  largest  guns  used  in  the 
Spanish  navy,  arrived  in  the  port  of  New  York. 
Her  captain  had  no  knowledge  of  the  accident  (?)  to 
the  "  Maine."  There  was  an  all-around  feeling  of 
uneasiness,  and  her  stay  was  necessarily  a  short  one. 

There  was  a  wide-spread  belief  that  the  vessel  was 
destroyed  by  treachery.  This  was  subsequently 
strengthened,  when  the  maker  of  the  mines  (an 


WILLIAM  Me  KIN  LEY. 


275 


Englishman,  who  sent  them  to  Havana)  declared  that 
they  could  only  be  exploded  through  the  connivance 
of  the  officers  who  had  them  in  charge.  All  the  evi- 
dence showed  that  the  destruction  of  the  "  Maine  " 
was  no  ordinary  accident,  but  was  due  to  external 
agency  and  hostile  intent,  and  this  formed  into 


THE   OREGON. 

quicker  fire  the  glowing  coals    of  righteous  wrath, 
and  humanitarian  zeal. 

Cuban  Intervention  Resolutions  were  at  once 
passed  by  Congress.  The  Spanish  Minister  demanded 
his  passports,  and  left  for  Canada.  An  ultimatum 
embracing  these  Congressional  provisions  was  for- 
warded to  the  Spanish  government  at  Madrid,  and 


276  LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

next  day  Spain  gave  our  Minister  (Woodward)  his 
passports,  thereby  severing  all  diplomatic  relations 
between  the  two  governments. 

A  fleet  was  now  assembled  at  Key  West.  Fifty 
millions  of  dollars  were  voted  by  Congress  as  an  Emer- 
gency Appropriation  to  be  expended  according  to  the 
President's  discretion.  Advances  of  money  were 
made,  and  scores  of  private  steam  yachts  of  great 
size  and  strength  were  offered  to  the  government  by 
our  wealthy  citizens.  Cuba  was  now  blockaded,  many 
vessels  were  captured,  and  several  effective  bombard- 
ments were  made  on  the  coast. 

The  President  called  for  125,000  volunteers,  appor- 
tioned through  the  several  States.  These  responded 
with  cheerfulness  and  alacrity.  On  April  25th  a  state 
of  war  was  declared  to  exist,  and  our  Asiatic  Squad- 
ron under  command  of  Commodore  Dewey  was 
ordered  from  Hong  Kong  to  the  Philippines,  with 
instructions  to  "  Capture  or  destroy  the  Spanish 
squadron." 

Dewey  forced  an  entrance  to  Manila  Bay  on  the 
night  of  April  3Oth,  and  early  on  the  following  morn- 
ing engaged  the  Spanish  fleet  which  was  then  under 
the  command  of  Admiral  Montojo.  When  the  battle 
was  over  the  enemy's  fleet  had  been  entirely  wiped 
out,  while  Dewey's  ships  had  scarcely  a  scratch. 
Thirteen  vessels  were  sunk,  captured,  or  burned ; 
three  batteries  were  silenced  and  destroyed,  and  a 
blockade  of  Manila  was  established. 

This  is  the  most  remarkable  naval  victory  on 
record.  Our  men  went  into  action  with  the  watch- 
word, "  Remember  the  Maine,"  and  five  times  they 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY. 


277 


ADMIRAI,  SAMPSON. 


ran  along  the  Spanish  line  of 
warships.  Not  a  man  on  our 
side  was  killed,  and  only 
eight  were  injured.  Com- 
modore Dewey  proved  him- 
self a  daring  and  courageous 
officer.  He  received  the 
thanks  of  Congress,  and  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  Rear- 
Adiniral  for  this  grand  vic- 
tory at  Cavite. 

A  subsequent  call  was  is- 
sued for  75,000  additional  men.  Twenty  thousand 
of  these  were  despatched  to  take  possession  of  the 
Philippines,  where  General  Wesley  Merritt  was  ap- 
pointed Military  Governor. 

For  several  weeks  our  fleet  under  Admiral  Samp- 
son and  Commodore  Schley  scoured  the  ocean,  seek- 
ing a  Spanish  squadron  that  had  been  sent  from 
Spain  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Cervera,  to 

succor  the  Spaniards  in 
Cuba,  and  to  attack  cur 
coasts.  They,  it  appears, 
were  short  of  coal  and  were 
hunting  at  different  points 
for  it ;  hence  their  ma- 
noeuvres were  veiled  in  mys- 
tery. For  a  long  time  they 
evaded  our  ships,  whose  or- 
ders were  to  "  Pursue  and 
utterly  destroy  the  Spanish 
COMMODORE  SCHWSY.  fleet."  On  May  igth  Cer- 


LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


vera  with  his  six  ships  stole  into  Santiago  de 
Cuba.  Schley  reported  the  fleet  is  bottled  up  in  San- 
tiago. "  I  have  got  them,  and  they  will  never  get 
home."  A  prediction  that  was  subsequently  fulfilled. 
Santiago  harbor  had  been  mined,  and  there  was 
danger  that  any  vessel  forcing  an  entrance  would 
meet  the  fate  of  the  "  Maine."  Lieutenant  Hobson 
conceived  the  idea  of  blocking  the  channel  by  sink- 
ing a  vessel  across  its  mouth,  thereby  preventing  any 
egress  of  the  Spanish  ships.  He,  with  seven  men 


ran  the  collier 
the  harbor  and 
channel,  under  the 
forts.  Hobson  and 
taken  prisoners. 

It  was  a  daring 
planned  and 
liantly  executed, 
ing  of  danger, 
contempt  of  it ;  the 
end  aimed  at,  and 
cess  with  which  it 
calm  igfnoringf  of 


LIEUT.   HOBSON. 


"  Merrimac  "  into 
sunk  her  in  the 
fire  of  the  Spanish 
his  men  were 

exploit,  maturely 
bravely  and  bril- 
The  cool  measur- 
joined  with  proud 
importance  of  the 
the  complete  suc- 


was  attained  ;  the 
the  terrible  risks  run,  and  the 
entire  self-efFacement  of  the  young  officer  and  his 
heroic  crew  make  Lieutenant  Hobson 's  deed  one  of 
the  most  notable  in  naval  annals.  The  lofty  personal 
bravery  of  the  men  woke  the  admiration  of  the 
Spanish  Admiral.  He  did  the  handsome  thing  in 
at  once  sending  out  word  that  our  heroes  were  unin- 
jured, and  that  he  would  be  glad  to  restore  such 
brave  men  to  their  fleet  by  exchange. 

On  June  i5th  our  army  sailed  for  Santiago.  General 


WILLIAM  McKlNLEY. 

Shatter  took  16,000  men  by  transports  over  more 
than  a  thousand  miles  of  ocean  ;  landed  on  a  rough 
coast  in  the  face  of  an  enemy ;  marched  and  fought 
through  a  tropical  jungle  thick  with  hidden  foes  for 
days  ;  drove  a  superior  force  from  entrenched  posi- 
tions on  high  hills. 

Ten  days  later  Cervera  was  driven  out  from  San- 
tiago. Next  day  Shafter  received  the  surrender  of  an 
army  of  18,000  men  holding  a  fortified  town.  Our 
loss  was  less  than  250  men. 


GENERAL  MILES.  GENERAL  SHAFTER. 

On  July  3d,  Cervera,  acting  under  orders  from 
General  Blanco  in  Havana,  made  a  gallant  dash  for 
liberty.  He  steamed  out  with  his  six  fast  war  ships, 
and  undertook  to  run  away  from  our  fleet.  Sampson 
was  away  at  the  time,  but  Schley  who  was  in  com- 
mand, chased  the  Spanish  ships,  fighting  them  as 
they  ran,  until  the  entire  fleet  was  sunk — four  of 
them  being  total  wrecks.  Cervera  was  taken  prisoner, 
with  1,700  other  Spaniards.  This  gallant  action 
practically  wiped  out  the  Spanish  navy. 


2  So  LIVES  Of  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

On  July  25tli  our  forces  landed  at  Porto  Rico. 
Three  days  later  Ponce,  the  largest  city  there,  sur- 
rendered to  General  Miles,  and  lie  was  received  with 
joyful  acclamations. 

Spain,  through  the  French  Ambassador  now  sug- 
gested peace.  We  went  reluctantly  into  the  war  and 
were  prepared  to  make  peace  any  time.  The  Presi- 
dent demanded  the  independence  of  Cuba,  the  cession 
of  Porto  Rico,  and  one  of  the  Ladrones  to  the  United 
States,  and  the  retention  of  Manila,  pending  the  final 
disposition  of  the  Philippines  by  a  joint  commission. 
The  demands  were  acceded  to,  and  the  horrible 
tyranny  that  was  clouding  the  fairest  portions  of  the 
earth  for  three  hundred  years  is  brought .  to  an  end. 
With  the  loss  of  her  naval  power  and  of  her  colonial 
empire  Spain  drops  from  the  ranks  of  the  first-class 
powers  of  the  world. 

Protocols  agreeing  as  to  the  preliminaries  for  a 
treaty  of  peace  were  signed  on  August  12,  1898.  Our 
naval  and  military  commanders  were  ordered  to  cease 
hostilities.  The  blockades  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and 
Manila  were  lifted,  and  the  war  was  ended.  A  new 
chapter  of  National  history,  of  world  history,  is 
opened  before  us. 

The  war  opened  the  door  of  annexation  to  Hawaii. 
President  McKinley  signed  resolutions  passed  by  the 
Senate  annexing  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to  the  United 
States,  and  the  "  Philadelphia  "  was  ordered  to  Hono- 
lulu to  raise  the  American  flag,  which  had  been 
hauled  down  under  Cleveland's  direction  in  1893. 


TABLE  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS. 


28l 


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282         TABLE  OF  ADMISSION  OF  STATES. 


1  Delaware          accepted  the 

2  Pennsylvania 

3  New  Jersey  "          " 

4  Georgia  "          " 

5  Connecticut 

6  Massachusetts 

7  Maryland 

8  South  Carolina 

9  New  Hampshire 

10  Virginia 

11  New  York 

12  North  Carolina 

13  Rhode  Island 

14  Vermont  admitted    o 

15  Kentucky 

16  Tennessee 

17  Ohio 

1 8  Louisiana 

19  Indiana 

20  Mississippi 

21  Illinois 

22  Alabama 

23  Maine 

24  Missouri 

25  Arkansas 

26  Michigan 

27  Florida 

28  Texas 

29  Iowa 

30  Wisconsin 

31  California 

32  Minnesota 

33  Oregon 

34  Kansas 

35  West  Virginia 

36  Nevada 

37  Nebraska 

38  Colorado 

39  North  Dakota 

40  South  Dakota 

41  Montana 

42  Washington 

43  Idaho 

44  Wyoming 

45  Utah 


Constitution Dec.  7,  1787 

"     Dec.  12,  1787 

"     Dec.  18,  1787 

"     Jan.  2,  1788 

"     Jan.  9,  1788 

Feb.  6,  1788 

Apr.  28,  1788 

May  23,  1788 

June  21,  1788 

, June  25,  1788 

July  26,  1788 

Nov.  21,  1789 

"      May  29,  1790 

the  Union Mar.  4,  1791 

"     June  i,  1792 

"     June  i,  1796 

"     Nov.  29,  1802 

"     Apr.  30,  1812 

"     Dec.  ii,  1816 

"     Dec.  10,  1817 

Dec.  3,  1818 

"     Dec.  14,  1819 

"     Mar.  15,  1820 

"     Aug.  10,  1821 

June  15,  1836 

Jan.  26,  1837 

Mar.  3,  1845 

Dec.  29,  1845 

Dec.  28,  1846 

May  29,  1848 

. .  Sept.  9,  1850 

May  ii,  1858 

Feb.  14,  1859 

Jan.  29,  1861 

June  19,  1863 

Oct.  31,  1864 

Mar.  i,  1867 

Aug.  i,  1876 

...-.  .  ..Feb.  22,  1889 

Feb.  22,  1889 

Feb.  22,  1889 

Feb.  22,  1889 

July  3,  1890 

July  ii,  1890 

., Jan.  4,  1896 


Altemus'   Young  People's    Library. 

PRICE,    60  CENTS  EACH. 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE  :  His  Life  and  Strange, 
Surprising  Adventures.  With  70  beautiful  illus- 
trations by  Walter  Paget. 

"Was  there  ever  anything-  written  that  the  reader  wished  longer  except 
ROBINSON  CRUSOE  and  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS?" — Samuel  Johnson. 
"  There  exists  no  work,  either  of  instruction  or  entertainment,  which  has 
been  more  generally  read,  and  universally  admired." — Walter  Scott. 

ALICE'S  ADVENTURES  IN  WONDER- 
LAND. With  42  illustrations  by  John  Tenniel. 

"Lewis  Carroll's  immortal  story." — Atheitceum. 

"The  most  delightful  of  children's  stories.  Elegant  and  delicious  non- 
sense."— Saturday  Review. 

THROUGH  THE  LOOKING  GLASS  AND 
WHAT  ALICE  FOUND  THERE.  (A  com- 
panion to  Alice  in  Wonderland. )  With  50  illus- 
trations by  John  Tenniel. 

"Will  fairly  rank  with  the  tale  of  her  previous  experience." — Daily  Tele- 
graph. ..."  Many  of  Tenniel's  designs  are  masterpieces  of  wise  ab- 
surdity."— Athenaeum.  ..."  Not  a  whit  inferior  to  its  predecessor  in 
grand  extravagance  of  imagination,  and  delicious  allegorical  nonsense." 
Quarterly  Review. 

BUNYAN'S  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS.  With 
50  full-page  and  text  illustrations. 

PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS  is  the  most  popular  story  book  in  the  world.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Bible  it  has  been  translated  into  more  languages  than 
any  other  book  ever  printed. 

A  CHILD'S  STORY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  With 
72  full-page  illustrations. 

Tells  in  simple  language  and  in  a  form  fitted  for  the  hands  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  Christian  flock,  the  tale  of  God's  dealings  with  his  Chosen 
People  under  the  Old  Dispensation,  with  its  foreshadowings  of  the  coming 
of  that  Messiah  who  was  to  make  all  mankind  one  fold  under  one  Shepherd. 

A  CHILD'S   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.      With  49 

illustrations. 

God  has  implanted  in  the  infant's  heart  a  desire  to  hear  of  Jesus,  and  chil- 
dren are  early  attracted  and  sweetly  riveted  by  the  wonderful  Story  of  the 
Master  from  the  Manger  to  the  Throne. 

In  this  little  book  we  have  brought  together  from  Scripture  every  incident, 
expression  and  description,  within  the  verge  of  their  comprehension  in  the 
effort  to  weave  them  into  a  memorial  garland  of  their  Saviour. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AND  THE  DIS- 
COVERY OF  AMERICA.  With  70  illustrations. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  American  lad  to  know  the  story  of  Christopher 
Columbus.  In  this  book  is  depicted  the  story  of  his  life  and  struggles;  of 
his  persistent  solicitations  at  the  courts  of  Europe,  and  his  contemptuous 
receptions  by  the  learned  Geographical  Councils,  until  his  final  employment 
by  Queen  Isabella.  Records  the  day-by-day  journeyings  while  he  was 
pursuing  his  aim  and  perilous  way  over  the  shoreless  Ocean,  until  he  "  gave 
to  Spain  a  New  World."  Shows  his  progress  through  Spain  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  return,  when  he  was  received  with  rapturous  demonstrations 
and  more  than  regal  homage.  His  displacement  by  the  Odjeas,  Ovandos 
and  Bobadilas;  his  last  return  in  chains,  and  the  story  of  his  death  in 
poverty  and  neglect. 

One  distinguishing  feature  about  this  edition  is,  that  many  of  the  illustra- 
tions are  copies  from  DeBry's  and  Herrara's  histories,  which  were  compiled 
by  authority  of  the  King  of  Spain,  showing  the  Indians,  in  their  life  and 
customs,  as  they  appeared  to  the  early  discoverers. 

LIVES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES.  Compiled  from  authorita- 
tive sources.  With  portraits  of  the  Presidents ; 
and  also  of  the  unsuccessful  candidates  for  the 
office ;  as  well  as  the  ablest  of  the  Cabinet  officers. 

This  book  should  be  in  every  home  and  school  library.  It  tells,  in  an  im- 
partial way,  the  story  of  the  political  history  of  the  United  States,  from  the 
first  Constitutional  convention  till  the  last  Presidential  nominations,  it  is 
just  the  book  for  intelligent  boys,  and  it  will  help  to  make  them  intelligent 
and  patriotic  citizens. 

GULLIVER'S  TRAVELS  INTO  SOME  RE- 
MOTE REGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD.  With 

50  illustrations. 

In  description,  even  of  the  most  common-place  things,  his  power  is  often 
perfectly  marvellous.  Macaulay  says  of  SWIFT  :  "  Under  a  plain  garb  and 
ungainly  deportment  were  concealed  some  of  the  choicest  gifts  that  ever 
have  been  bestowed  on  any  of  the  children  of  men, — rare  powers  of  obser- 
vation, brilliant  art,  grotesque  invention,  humor  of  the  most  austere  flavor, 
yet  exquisitely  delicious,  eloquence  singularly  pure,  manly,  and  per- 
spicuous." 

MOTHER  GOOSE'S  RHYMES,  JINGLES, 
AND  FAIRY  TALES.  With  300  illustrations. 

"  In  this  edition  an  excellent  choice  has  been  made  from  the  standard  fic- 
tion of  the  little  ones.  The  abundant  pictures  are  well  drawn  and  graceful, 
the  effect  frequently  striking  and  always  decorative." — Critic.  ..."  Only 
to  see  the  book  is  to  wish  to  give  it  to  every  child  one  knows." — Quten. 

THE  FABLES  OF  JESOP.  Compiled  from 
the  best  accepted  sources.  With  62  illustrations. 

The  fables  of  jEsop  are  among  the  very  earliest  compositions  of  this  kind, 
and  probably  have  never  been  surpassed  for  point  and  brevity,  as  well  as 


for  the  practical  good  sense  they  display.  In  their  grotesque  grace,  in 
their  quaint  humor,  in  their  trust  in  the  simpler  virtues,  in  their  insight  into 
the  cruder  vices,  in  their  innocence  of  the  fact  of  sex.  .flLsor's  FABLES 
are  as  little  children — and  for  that  reason  they  will  ever  find  a  home  in  the 
heaven  of  little  children's  souls. 

THE  STORY  OF  ADVENTURE  IN  THE 
FROZEN  SEA.  With  70  illustrations.  Com- 
piled from  authorized  sources. 

We  here  have  brought  together  the  records  of  the  attempts  to  reach  the 
North  Pole.  Our  object  being  to  recall  the  stories  of  the  early  voyagers,  and 
to  narrate  the  recent  efforts  of  gallant  adventurers  of  various  nationalities  to 
cross  the  "unknown  and  inaccessible"  threshold;  and  to  show  how  much 
can  be  accomplished  by  indomitable  pluck  and  steady  preseverance.  Por- 
traits and  numerous  illustrations  help  the  narration. 

The  North  Polar  region  is  the  largest,  as  it  is  the  most  important  field  of 
discovery  that  remains  for  this  generation  to  work  out.  As  Frobisher  de- 
clared nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  it  is  "  the  only  great  thing 
left  undone  in  the  world."  Every  year  diminishes  the  extent  of  the  un- 
known ;  and  there  is  a  bare  likelihood  that  Dr.  Nansen  has  already  explored 
the  hitherto  unexplorable. 

THE  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  DIS- 
COVERY IN  AFRICA.  With  80  illustrations. 

Records  the  experiences  of  adventures,  privations,  sufferings,  trials,  dan- 
gers, and  discoveries  in  developing  the  "  Dark  Continent,"  from  the  early 
days  of  Bruce  and  Mungo  Park  down  to  Livingstone  and  Stanley  and  the 
heroes  of  our  own  times. 

The  reader  becomes  carried  away  by  conflicting  emotions  of  wonder  and 
sympathy,  and  feels  compelled  to  pursue  the  story,  which  he  cannot  lay 
down.  No  present  can  be  more  acceptable  than  such  a  volume  as  this, 
where  courage,  intrepidity,  resource  and  devotion  are  so  pleasantly  min- 
gled. It  is  very  fully  illustrated  with  pictures  worthy  of  the  book. 

THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON,  or  the 
Adventures  of  a  shipwrecked  Family  on  an  Un- 
inhabited Island.  With  50  illustrations. 

A  remarkable  tale  of  adventure  that  will  interest  the  boys  and  girls.  The 
father  of  the  family  tells  the  tale  and  the  vicissitudes  through  which  he  and 
his  wife  and  children  pass,  the  wonderful  discoveries  they  make,  and  the 
dangers  they  encounter.  It  is  a  standard  work  of  adventure  that  has  the 
favor  of  all  who  have  read  it. 

THE  ARABIAN  NIGHTS'  ENTERTAIN- 
MENTS. With  50  illustrations.  Contains  the 
most  favorably  known  of  the  stories. 

The  text  is  somewhat  abridged  and  edited  for  the  young.  It  forms  an  ex- 
cellent introduction  to  those  immortal  tales  which  have  helped  so  long  to 
keep  the  weary  world  young. 


ILLUSTRATED  NATURAL  HISTORY.  By 
the  Rev.  J.  G.  Wood.  With  80  illustrations. 

WOOD'S  NATURAL  HISTORY  needs  no  commendation.  Its  author  has 
done  more  than  any  other  writer  to  popularize  the  study.  His  work  is 
known  and  admired  over  all  the  civilized  world.  The  sales  of  his  works  in 
England  and  America  have  been  enormous.  The  illustrations  in  this  edi- 
tion are  entirely  new,  striking,  and  life-like. 

A  CHILD'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  By 
Charles  Dickens.  With  50  illustrations. 

Dickens  grew  tired  of  listening  to  his  children  memorizing  the  old-fashioned 
twaddle  that  went  under  the  name  of  English  history.  He  thereupon  wrote 
a  book,  in  his  own  peculiarly  happy  style,  primarily  for  the  educational 
advantage  of  his  own  children,  but  was  prevailed  upon  to  publish  the  work, 
and  make  its  use  general.  Its  success  was  instantaneous  and  abiding. 

BLACK  BEAUTY;  The  Autobiography  of  a 
Horse.  By  Anna  Sewell.  With  50  illustrations. 

This  NEW  ILLUSTRATED  EDITION  is  sure  to  command  attention.  Wher- 
ever children  are,  whether  boys  or  girls,  there  this  Autobiography  should 
be.  It  inculcates  habits  of  kindness  to  all  members  of  the  animal  creation. 
The  literary  merit  of  the  book  is  excellent. 

GRIMM'S  FAIRY  TALES.  With  50  illus- 
trations. 

These  Tales  of  the  Brothers  Grimm  have  carried  their  names  into  every 
household  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  Tales  are  a  wonderful  collection,  as  interesting,  from  a  literary  point 
of  view,  as  they  are  delightful  as  stories. 

ANDERSEN'S  FAIRY  TALES.  By  Hans 
Christian  Andersen.  With  77  illustrations. 

The  spirit  of  high  moral  teaching,  and  the  delicacy  of  sentiment,  feeling-, 
and  expression  that  pervade  these  tales  make  these  wonderful  creations  not 
only  attractive  to  the  young,  but  equally  acceptable  to  those  of  mature 
years,  who  are  able  to  understand  their  real  significance  and  appreciate  the 
depth  of  their  meaning. 

FLOWER  FABLES.  By  Louisa  May  Alcott. 
With  colored  and  plain  illustrations. 

A  series  of  very  interesting  fairy  tales  by  the  most  charming-  of  American 
story-tellers. 

GRANDFATHER'S  CHAIR;  A  History  for 
Youth.  By  Nathaniel  Hawthorne.  With  60 
illustrations. 

The  story  of  America  from  the  landing  of  the  Puritans  to  the  acknowledg- 
ment -without  reserve  of  the  INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
told  with  all  the  elegance,  simplicity,  grace,  clearness,  and  force  for  which 
Hawthorne  is  conspicuously  noted. 


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